When a child dies, there is not much anyone can say to the mother or father, Pope Francis said, but Catholics must pray for them and be close to them.
‘It is not natural to outlive your child,’ the Pope said in a video explaining the intention he would like Catholics to pray for during the month of November.
The Pope’s message encouraging prayers ‘for those who have lost a child’ was released by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network on 31 October. The network posts a short video of the Pope offering his specific prayer intention each month, and members of the network pray for that intention each day.
In the video, Pope Francis repeated the adage that ‘when one spouse loses the other, they are a widower or a widow. A child who loses a parent is an orphan. There’s a word for that. But when a parent loses a child, there’s no word. The pain is so great that there’s no word.’
Because the pain of losing a child is so intense, he said, ‘words of encouragement’, offered with the best of intentions, often are unhelpful and may even ‘end up aggravating the wound’.
‘To offer comfort to these parents who have lost a child, we need to listen to them, to be close to them with love, to care responsibly for the pain they feel, imitating how Jesus Christ consoled those who were afflicted,’ Pope Francis said.
Parents who have lost a child and have found comfort in their faith can help others who have suffered ‘such a terrible tragedy’ find support and understanding, he said.
In November, the Pope said, ‘let us pray that all parents who mourn the loss of a son or daughter find support in their community and may receive peace of heart from the Spirit of consolation.’
Reinforcing this message, Pope Francis prayed at the graves of children and of miscarried babies on the feast of All Souls on 2 November before concelebrating Mass with several hundred mourners.
The Pope travelled to Rome’s Laurentino cemetery, which has a special section for children who have died and, nearby, a section called the ‘Garden of the Angels’, where parents who have experienced a miscarriage can opt to have their children buried rather than having a hospital dispose of the remains.
Rather than giving a homily during the Mass, the Pope led the congregation in a long moment silent reflection.
At the end of the Mass, the Pope prayed that by visiting the graves of their beloved deceased, people would renew their faith in Jesus, who died, was buried and rose again to save humanity.
The bodies of those who have died will rise again on the last day, he said, and those who have fallen asleep in the Lord will join him in the triumph over death.
‘Comfort those who are suffering the pain of separation with the certainty that the dead live in you,’ he prayed, ‘and that even the bodies entrusted to the earth will one day participate in the paschal victory of your son.’
Banner image: During a general audience in the Paul VI hall at the Vatican 19 January 2022, Pope Francis prays for the parents of two young women who died in a Rome car accident. (Photo: CNS/Paul Haring.)
