Most Rev. Emmanuel Kofi Fianu SVD, Bishop of the catholic Diocese of Ho on November 6, 2019 concelebrated a memorial mass for deceased Priests and Religious to eulogise their endless service to the church at the Priest’s Cemetery at Bishop Holland Memorial Pastoral Centre, Sokode Gbogame.

The prelate had earlier initiated the move to set aside a day to celebrate the memorial mass for their service to the church in the Diocese and beyond.

Reflecting on his homily, counseled priests and religious to demonstrate their readiness ready to love their vocation as priests and religious more than their families and other earthly attainments as they journey towards their eternal home.

The Mass ended with the rites of blessing of the graves with 54 priests, 25 religious and 8 lay faithful present.

All Souls Day is a holy day set aside for honoring the dead. The day is primarily celebrated in the Catholic Church, but it is also celebrated in the Eastern Orthodox Church and a few other denominations of Christianity. The Anglican church is the largest protestant church to celebrate the holy day. Most protestant denominations do not recognise the holiday and disagree with the theology behind it.

According to Catholic belief, the soul of a person who dies can go to one of three places. The first is heaven, where a person who dies in a state of perfect grace and communion with God goes. The second is hell, where those who die in a state of mortal sin are naturally condemned by their choice. The intermediate option is purgatory, which is thought to be where most people, free of mortal sin, but still in a state of lesser (venial) sin, must go.

Source: Radioangelus.com