NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- For Pope John Paul II-- who was ordained to the priesthood on November 1-- the feast of All Saints carries a special significance. At his Sunday Angelus audience, the Pope said that this feast should vivify the faith of the living, as they consider the courageous witness of those who have gone before them.

      "The saints are those who, in each ear, have lived their with courage, giving witness to Christ without weakness or compromise," the Pope said. They are models for the living, he continued, "and they come to our help with their constant intercession."

      But the joy of the feast is always linked with the sorrow of the feast of All Souls, the Pontiff said. That sorrow reflects the memories of loved ones who have died, and also the realization that many people have become "victims violence and warfare." The joy and sorrow of the two days are linked, he said, in "a synthesis which finds in Christ the foundation and certainty of consolation."

      The feast of All Saints is celebrated at the Vatican with a special Mass in the city's Verano cemetery, celebrated this year by Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the papal vicar for Rome. Pope John Paul himself will spend some time in prayer in the grottos of St. Peter's Basilica, at the tombs of deceased pontiffs.

      November 2, the feast of All Souls, is observed as a holy day at the Vatican, and most offices of the Holy See are closed.