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Pope: Death can’t separate us; our way of being together only changes

Pope Francis holds flowers at the basilica of Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre -patron saint of Cuba- in El Cobre, Santiago de Cuba on September 21, 2015. Santiago, the last stop on Pope Francis's Cuban tour. AFP PHOTO / FILIPPO MONTEFORTE

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Kathleen N. Hattrup - published on 02/02/22
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Pope Francis explained the Communion of Saints in his catechesis. Do you know how to define this concept? He shared how he used to explain it as a boy!

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Pope Francis broadened his teaching series on St. Joseph to reflect this February 2 on the Communion of Saints. He laughed about how the concept can be difficult to understand. Though we profess we believe in this Communion each Sunday in the Creed, if we're asked what it is, we might not know. "I remember as a child I used to answer immediately, 'Ah, the saints receive Communion.' It’s something that… we don’t understand what we are saying. What is the communion of saints? It’s not the saints receiving Communion, it’s not that. It’s something else," the Pope said.

Don't be pagan

Pope Francis warned that sometimes even Christians can fall into forms of devotion to saints that reflect a more pagan than Christian mentality.

But there's a fundamental difference, he said: devotion to the saints is not based on "trust in a human being or an image or object."

They aren't miracle workers

While the Church recognizes miracles in the process of canonizing a saint, Catholics don't believe that it's saints who work miracles. Instead it is God who works the miracle, with the saint's intercession. The Pope explained this:

This Communion is the Church

The Pope quoted the definition of the Communion of Saints given by the Catechism.

One body

Pope Francis used St. Paul's definition, that form "one single body in which Jesus is the head and we are the members (cf. 1 Cor 12:120)," saying that this image "immediately makes us understand what it means to be bound to one another in communion.

Death can't separate us

Pope Francis explained the strength of this union in the Communion of Saints.

My friends in Heaven

Pope Francis said that our relationship with the saints is basically a friendship.

Special love for Mary and Joseph

The Holy Father noted that in the whole history of the Church, there has been a special affection for and bond with Mary, the "Mother of God and our Mother." But there has also been "special honor and affection" for St Joseph. "After all, God entrusts to him the most precious things he has: his Son Jesus and the Virgin Mary."

Love for our patron saints

The Pope also had a word for our patron saints.

This isn't magic or superstition

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