Pope Francis prays in cemetery for unborn children on All Souls’ Day

CNA Newsroom, Nov 2, 2024 / 08:34 am

Pope Francis marked All Souls’ Day with a Mass at a Roman cemetery on Saturday, making a special visit to the “Garden of Angels.”

More than 100 faithful gathered with Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri at the Laurentino Cemetery, the city’s third-largest burial ground, to welcome the pope.

Upon arrival, Francis laid white roses on a memorial stone marking the Garden of Angels and silently prayed for several moments.

The garden, established in 2012, provides a dedicated space for families grieving the loss of children, including those lost to miscarriage.

The pope was also greeted by mothers from the “Sparks of Hope” association who have lost children. Each presented him with a white scarf as a symbolic embrace from them and their deceased children.

During his visit, he also met with Stefano, a father who lost his daughter Sara during pregnancy in 2021, Vatican News reported.

The pope‘s prayer intention for the month of November is for those who have lost a child.

This marked Francis’ second visit to the Laurentino Cemetery’s Garden of Angels, having previously celebrated All Souls’ Day Mass there in 2018.

The pope did not deliver a homily during Mass, instead observing moments of silent prayer. Before the final blessing, he offered a special prayer for the deceased, asking God to “open the arms of your mercy and receive them into the glorious assembly of the holy Jerusalem.”

After Mass, the pope performed the traditional blessing of the graves.

Pope Francis’ choice of the Laurentino Cemetery continues his tradition of celebrating All Souls’ Day in different Roman cemeteries.

For All Souls’ Day in 2023, Mass was offered at the small Rome War Cemetery, which contains 426 Commonwealth burials from the Second World War.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the pope opted to stay in Vatican City and celebrate Mass for the faithful departed in the Church of Our Lady of Mercy, which is surrounded by the Teutonic Cemetery — the burial place of people of German, Austrian, and Swiss descent, and particularly members of the Archconfraternity to the Sorrowful Mother of God of the Germans and Flemings.

In 2019, the pope celebrated Mass at the Catacombs of Priscilla, while in 2022 he privately visited the Teutonic Cemetery again but offered Mass for deceased bishops and cardinals in St. Peter’s Basilica — another papal custom during the week of All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days.

On Sunday, Nov. 3, Pope Francis will again lead the Angelus in St. Peter’s Square, as he does every Sunday at noon.

The following morning, on Nov. 4, he will preside at a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica for the repose of the souls of the bishops and cardinals who died during the previous year. It is the pope’s practice to always offer this Mass sometime during the first week of November.