Month of All Souls

11-02-2025Pastor's CornerFr. Bob Deehan

In the month of October, the Church marked Respect Life Month. As we begin the month of November, the Church remembers all of the faithful departed, commonly known as the month of All Souls. It is a month when we pray in a special way for all of those who have died, and particularly for those who have need for purification before being united to the Lord in heaven, traditionally known as purgatory.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (1030) explains it this way, “All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.” The effects of the sin remain, and so, this brings about a cleansing of residual attitudes and attachments to sin.

As we leave Respect Life Month and enter the month of All Souls, one common thread between the two leads us to pray for those who have died as a result of the Death Penalty. Some may feel repugnance at such a suggestion. However, all souls deserve our prayers even those who have committed terrible crimes. Everyone can have hope of redemption, even the most hardened criminals. And often, it is well after their crime that they repent of their sin and seek God’s mercy. Purgatory can be their hope of attaining heaven. In 2018, Pope Francis made a change to the Catechism of the Catholic Church declaring the death penalty as inadmissible; therefore, no longer permitted.

Here is the current Catholic Church teaching about the death penalty taken from the Catechism of the Catholic Church (2267): “Recourse to the death penalty on the part of legitimate authority, following a fair trial, was long considered an appropriate response to the gravity of certain crimes and an acceptable, albeit extreme, means of safeguarding the common good. Today, however, there is an increasing awareness that the dignity of the person is not lost even after the commission of very serious crimes. In addition, a new understanding has emerged of the significance of penal sanctions imposed by the state.

Lastly, more effective systems of detention have been developed, which ensure the due protection of citizens but, at the same time, do not definitively deprive the guilty of the possibility of redemption. Consequently, the Church teaches, in the light of the Gospel, that “the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person”, and she works with determination for its abolition worldwide.” As our Church calls for the respect for the life and dignity of each and every person from the moment of conception to natural death, including everyone in between, let us pray for a conversion of mind and heart of those who seek to make exceptions to this teaching.