Your archdiocesan newspaper has a very long tradition of remembering the dead and thus reminding all of us to pray for them. You read this every week in the newspaper in the necrology, death notices, or the obituaries. And the staff's responsibility goes further with the annual listing of deceased clergy of that year in the Boston Catholic Directory and, as priests and sacristans know, in the annual "Paulist" ordo, which is commonly found in each sacristy.

All of these seem to get a good deal of attention from our readers as we get thank yous from families, corrections about printed data, and inquiries about the policy of The Pilot regarding all of this.

First, obituaries. These are the longer articles that appear on the death of a bishop or priest of the archdiocese. Readers know that they'll hear about a favorite priest, his ministry, and the funeral Mass. The policy is that the obituaries are of the bishops or priests incardinated in the archdiocese at the time of their death. At the discretion of the editor, another obituary might be printed; for example, a religious bishop, priest, deacon, brother, nun, or sister who was widely known in the archdiocese, or who may have worked at some point in an archdiocesan office, etc. A recent example of this was Sister Ann Dominic Roach, OP, in September 2024. Sister Ann Dominic was the first woman to serve as superintendent of Catholic schools, and it was an obvious "exception" to the policy.

Death notices are shorter and follow a format similar to that of secular newspapers and online services. Readers are aware that many more of these are included in this section each week than in the obituary category.

Here are those whose death notices may appear: bishops, priests (non-Boston diocesan), deacons, or religious brothers, nuns and sisters, as well as the parents and siblings of all those in the aforementioned categories and of diocesan priests. For these, our staff relies on information provided by religious orders regarding their deceased members and their parents or siblings. We rely on families, usually through the funeral directors, to provide information if the family requests that they contact us and place the death notice.

Lastly, there is the necrology. This is simply a list of the bishops, priests, and deacons of the archdiocese and their dates of death. With this listing comes the intention that readers pray for these deceased clergy.

The Pilot is unique in its necrology because it also includes the deceased bishops, priests, and deacons of religious orders who were native sons of the archdiocese, who served at some point in the archdiocese, or who died in the archdiocese. Each of these names had previously appeared in an obituary or in the death notices.

The weekly necrology is limited to the most recent 50 years because of space limitations.

The present necrology of the archdiocese contains more than 2,700 names of bishops, priests, and deacons who have died since the establishment of this archdiocese in 1808. That's just the clergy incardinated into the archdiocese. If we were to add all the religious clergy, there would likely be an additional 3,000 names.

Each week in the necrology, there appear about 50 names, listing those 2,700 names. If we were able to assemble the names of all the deceased clergy, we'd be looking at 5,700 names, at least. Eliminating the 50-year limit would generate about 120 names per week, again, at least. We would more than double the size of the necrology box.

Regarding religious orders of men and women, each has its own necrology and usually prays for their deceased members on the anniversary of the death. So, they are not forgotten even if they are not in our necrology.

It might be a nice custom for families to generate necrologies. With so many online resources, this could probably be easily done. Then you could pray for your deceased on the anniversary of a death and pray for all of them on All Souls Day!

A gentle reminder: a necrology is a list of the deceased by name and date of death. It is simply a statement of historical fact and, for us Catholics, an unstated request to pray for each one. A martyrology is another thing altogether. For Catholics, this is the list of the saints and blesseds on the Church's calendar. These names we certainly recall, but we also ask them to pray to God for us. Religious orders also have not only their own necrologies, but also their own martyrologies.

Since human beings are prone to error, the staff appreciates any corrections of names or dates, as well as any omissions or additions, noting the 50-year policy.

And don't forget to pray for the names in the obituaries, the death notices, or the necrology.