In All Saints’ Day Speech, Pope Francis Says ‘Saints Aren’t Superheroes’  

In a speech made on the feast of All Saints Day before reciting the Angelus with members of the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square, Pope Francis spoke about the nature of the saints, telling listeners that contrary to popular perception, saints aren't superheroes, but regular people who simply remained faithful to God. "Being a saint is not a privilege of the few, like someone getting a large inheritance. All of us have inherited through baptism the ability to become saints," he said, according to Today's Catholic News.

He added that saints "are friends of God" and "not superheroes, nor were they born perfect. They are like us, each one of us." The pope said that saints were people who took the way shown by Jesus in the Gospels, especially with the beatitudes, and followed God "with their whole heart - unconditionally and without hypocrisy; they spent their lives serving others; they put up with suffering and adversity without hatred; they responded to evil with goodness and spread joy and peace." Commenting on the nature of heaven - about which he has made news a few months back by saying atheists can enter - Pope Francis said it was for those "who have a simple, humble heart; who don't assume to be righteous and don't judge others; who know how to suffer with those who suffer and rejoice with those who rejoice; they aren't violent, but are merciful; and they seek to be builders of reconciliation and peace."

After joining believers in the square to pray the Angelus, the pope asked for a moment of silence and prayer for the 92 Nigerian migrants - including 52 children and 33 women -- who were found on Thursday to have died while trying to cross the Sahara desert for Algeria. He also said he was praying for "victims of violence, especially Christians who lost their lives because of persecution." Pope Francis has made his mark as a defender of migrants, with several visits to the Italian island of Lampedusa, a major receiver of undocumented immigration, largely from Africa. The latest came in early October, when a boat carrying over 500 African migrants capsized, with over 300 of them later found drowned. The pope arrived shortly afterward and spoke in harsh terms of the "global indifference" toward the plight of migrants. "The word disgrace comes to me. It is a disgrace," he said in Italian then.

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