Pope Leo Prays for War Dead at All Souls Mass
At Rome’s Verano Cemetery, he invoked the Beatitudes, recalled St. Francis and urged that mothers’ tears move those who can silence the guns.
On November 2, 2026, at 4 p.m., Pope Leo XIV presided at the Mass for the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed at the monumental entrance of Rome’s Verano Cemetery.
Before the liturgy he laid a bouquet at a common grave near the main entrance—the same place where Pope Francis had placed flowers for this commemoration. Among those resting there are photographer Candido Scocco, Maria Antonietta Nicolini, Franca Piras, and Leonello Ditano.
Beatitudes at the Threshold of Eternity
In his homily the Holy Father said that commemorating the faithful departed the day after All Saints orients prayer toward “the life of holiness and blessedness” already enjoyed by many of God’s children. He built the preaching on the Beatitudes, calling them “the path to the full and complete life, now and for eternity,” and noted that they “resound with particular spiritual force in a cemetery, which is like a threshold between this world and the beyond.”
Quoting Matthew 5:4—“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted”—he prayed “for those who have recently lost a loved one; in particular for those whom the senseless violence of war has torn away.” He exclaimed: “May the tears of so many mothers, children and elderly people move the consciences of those who have the power to silence the weapons!”
St. Francis and the Bond That Is Transformed
Marking the eighth centenary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi, the Pope recalled the “beatitude” Francis added to his Canticle of the Creatures as he understood his end was near, including the lines on “our sister bodily death,” from which no living person can escape, and the promise that “the second death will do no harm.”
He concluded: “Faith in Christ tells us that our bond with the faithful departed is not broken, but transformed.” The Eucharist already anticipates that full communion while the faithful await the day when God “will wipe away every tear” (Revelation 21:4).
The Mass thus joined the Church’s prayer for every soul with a clear plea for peace, rooted in the hope of the Resurrection and the communion of saints.