At his Wednesday General Audience on December 10, Pope Leo XIV invited the faithful to rediscover a Christian understanding of death, urging believers not to avoid the topic but to see it through the transforming light of Christ’s Resurrection. His reflections continued his catechetical series on “The Resurrection of Christ and the Challenges of the Contemporary World,” according to Vatican News.
The Pope said that acknowledging death—and thinking seriously about it—can become a decisive moment of spiritual clarity. “To know that death exists, and above all to reflect on it, teaches us to choose what we really want to make of our existence,” he told the crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square, according to Vatican News. He added that authentic living begins in prayer, “so that we understand what truly brings the Kingdom of Heaven, and [so we can] let go of what is superfluous and ties us to passing things.”
The Holy Father warned that contemporary culture increasingly treats death as something to hide from view, a shift that contrasts sharply with the rituals and traditions of past generations. As he explained, “Death seems to be a sort of taboo, an event to keep at a distance; something to be spoken of in hushed tones, to avoid disturbing our sensibilities and our tranquillity,” according to Vatican News.
Pope Leo also noted the rise of technological theories promising to extend human life indefinitely. Some perspectives envision a future where earthly life is prolonged through scientific advancement. But the Pope questioned the assumptions behind these visions, saying, “Could death really be defeated by science? But then, could science itself guarantee us that a life without death is also a happy life?” according to the same report.
Reflecting on the human condition, the Pope observed that people uniquely carry the burden of knowing death awaits them. Animals, he said, do not contemplate these existential questions. This awareness, he explained, can leave us feeling “paradoxical [and] unhappy… not only because we die, but also because we are certain that this event will happen,” according to Vatican News.
Yet the heart of his catechesis was not fear, but hope. Pope Leo XIV pointed to Christ’s Resurrection as the definitive response to humanity’s questions about suffering and death. The Resurrection, he said, “reveals to us that death is not opposed to life, but rather is a constitutive part of it, as the passage to eternal life.” It also offers a glimpse, even amid present trials, of “the fullness of what will happen after death,” according to Vatican News.
Only in the light of the Risen Christ, he emphasized, can believers understand death as St. Francis once did. “Only the Resurrection is capable of illuminating the mystery of death to its full extent,” the Pope explained. “In this light… what our heart desires and hopes becomes true: that death is not the end, but the passage towards full light, towards a happy eternity.”
Because Christ has gone before us, the Pope said, believers can await death not with dread but with confidence. “The Risen One has gone before us in the great trial of death, emerging victorious thanks to the power of divine Love,” according to Vatican News. In doing so, Christ “has prepared for us the place of eternal rest… the home where we are awaited.”
Pope Leo concluded by encouraging Catholics to approach life with the serenity that comes from faith in the Resurrection. Waiting for death in the hope of Christ, he said, “preserves us from the fear of disappearing forever and prepares us for the joy of life without end,” according to Vatican News.
