Pray for the dead in case they're in purgatory, says Vatican official

Published: 2007-11-02

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- While Christians should hope that their deceased loved ones are in heaven, they must pray for them in case they are in purgatory, said Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze. Vatican Radio asked the cardinal, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, about a frequent comment at funerals that the deceased is now with God in heaven. "The people present at a funeral have no authority to canonize anyone," the cardinal said in the interview broadcast Nov. 2, the feast of All Souls. "They can hope that the person has arrived in the house of the Father in heaven, but it is just as possible that the person is in purgatory," he said. "Only God knows if that person is already in heaven; we cannot know and, therefore, we pray for that person because he could be in purgatory. However, if the person already is in heaven, God certainly will use all of those prayers for another person," Cardinal Arinze said.

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