Mass of the Dead
For our homeless brethren

On Nov. 23, 2019, Archbishop Cordileone offered  the second annual Requiem Mass for the Homeless Faithful Departed, at Church of the Visitacion in San Francisco.  Most Rev. Salvatore J. Cordileone, Archbishop of San Francisco, celebrated the Mass. The first Mass was offered at St. Patrick Church, San Francisco, in 2018. The Mass each year is offered during the month of November which is dedicated to the Holy Souls in Purgatory.  We particularly invited those who are touched by homelessness in some way either by personal experience or through participation in ministries and apostolates that help the homeless. 

There are more than 5,000 unsheltered on our streets with more than 8,000 experiencing homelessness including those in emergency shelters, according to the San Francisco Homeless Count & Survey 2019, a biennial survey. Exact numbers of homeless deaths are difficult to track although mortality is four to nine times higher among chronically homeless people than among the general population. In 2018, 135 people died without a fixed address, according to the records of the San Francisco medical examiner. Life expectancy is 25 years shorter.

These are our brothers and sisters, children of God.

During November, as the Church particularly commemorates all her faithful children who have departed from this life, join us as we pray for the poor men and women who have died without a home, that our prayers may speed them to their eternal home in heaven.

Please join us next year on November 7, 2020 for the Third Annual Requiem Mass for the Homeless Faithful Departed to be celebrated by Archbishop Cordileone at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption. The special requiem Mass is to be composed by  Frank La Rocca, composer in residence of he Benedict XVI Institute for Sacred Music and Divine Worship.