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November 3, 2022

Squeaking into Purgatory means Heaven must wait

Detail of a miniature of Dante and Virgil with Pope Adrian V, Hugh Capet and Statius in Purgatory.

As November is the month of Holy Souls, containing both the feasts of All Saints and All Souls — let’s continuously pray for all our beloved deceased. Why? Because there’s this thing called Purgatory, and you really don’t want to go there. Aim higher. 

Published in Register Columnists
October 23, 2020

Vatican extends time to obtain full indulgences for souls in purgatory

Women are pictured in a file photo praying on All Souls' Day, Nov. 2, at a cemetery in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic response measures restrict most gatherings, the Vatican has extended the usual plenary indulgence to souls in purgatory from just the first week in November to include the entire month.

VATICAN CITY -- Plenary or full indulgences traditionally obtained during the first week of November for the souls of the faithful in purgatory can now be gained throughout the entire month of November, the Vatican said.

Published in Vatican
November 2, 2018

Feast of All Souls a time to remember, to hope for eternal life, Pope says

Pope Francis walks through Rome's Prima Porta cemetery Nov. 2, the feast of All Souls.
ROME – The Mass for the feast of All Souls is "realistic, concrete" in calling Catholics to remember the people and events of their past, to consider how they live today and to hope for eternal life with God and their loved ones who preceded them, Pope Francis said.
Published in Reflections
May 5, 2015

Pope suggests 'Divine Comedy' as important reading for Year of Mercy

A illustration by Sandro Botticelli of the infernal abyss from Dante Alighieri's "Divine Comedy" is part of the manuscript collection of the Vatican Library.

VATICAN CITY - Dante Alighieri's "Divine Comedy" is more than a literary masterpiece, it is an invitation "to rediscover the lost or obscured meaning of our human path and to hope to see again the glowing horizon on which the dignity of the human person shines in its fullness," Pope Francis said.

Published in Vatican