Vatican City, Nov 2, 2008 / 11:39 am
Presiding over the recitation of the Sunday Angelus, Pope Benedict XVI commemorated all the faithful departed, explained the meaning of Christian hope, and called for evangelization about the reality of death and eternal life, so that Christian truth does not mix with "various types of mythologies."
"Today, with our souls directed to this reality, finally we commemorate all the faithful departed who have preceded us with the sign of faith and now rest in peace," said the Pope. He stressed the importance that Christians "live their relationship with the dead in the truth of the faith, and look at death, and what lies beyond, in the light of revelation."
"It is also necessary today to evangelize about the reality of death and eternal life, a reality particularly subject to superstitious beliefs and syncretism, so that the Christian truth is not jeopardized by mixing with mythology of all kinds," said the Pontiff.
He also noted the question of whether the men and women of our time still want eternal life.