On November 4, Pope Francis offered Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica (video) for the six cardinals and 163 bishops who have died in the past year. “Prayers for the faithful departed, offered in confident trust that they now live with God, also greatly benefit ourselves on this, our earthly pilgrimage,” he preached in his homily. “They instill in us a true vision of life; they reveal to us the meaning of the trials we must endure to enter the kingdom of God; they open our hearts to true freedom and inspire us unceasingly to seek eternal riches.”