Pope Francis on Wednesday urged Christians to stand by their faith and believe in resurrection and eternal life, admitting that we all fear death.
"We are all a bit afraid of dying," Francis told pilgrims gathered at the Vatican on Wednesday for his weekly general audience.
"Before the mystery of death, and the loss of our loved ones, we Christians are challenged to hope more firmly in the Lord’s promise of eternal life," Francis said.
The first Christian communities also "had some difficulty" with death, Francis said, citing the "still relevant" teaching of Saint Paul in his First Letter to the Thessalonians, the earliest writing of the New Testament.
Francis noted how Saint Paul told the early Christian community to believe in the afterlife and to "wear its faith like a helmet".
"Because Christ is risen, the object of our hope is certain," the pontiff said.
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