The author has been working for the past ten years with the bereaved, and in this way, he has discovered the many hardships of Christians because they are not allowed to grieve in the way they feel within themselves. He notes that within the Catholic Church, the pastoral care of the bereaved is unfortunately limited to funeral services. It is only in the teaching of Pope Francis that we find more encouragement for a renewal of a form of pastoral care that will respond more integrally to the needs of the bereaved. In the first chapter, the author reviews the spiritual assistance offered by the Catholic Church through the Christian funeral rite. He then illustrates the various forms of distress experienced by grieving Christians who are unable to be immediately comforted by their faith in the resurrection of Christ and the eternal life of the dead in him. Finally, he shows the fundamental guidelines for the pastoral care of the bereaved, which can be found in the teaching of Pope Francis. He concludes by stressing the importance of creating a new pastoral approach to the bereaved that supports the bereaved in an integrated way and is able to create the safe space that is so badly needed but difficult to find.
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