Pope offers Mass for All Souls’ Day at Rome’s Laurentino Cemetery

By Lisa Zengarini

Continuing his custom of offering Mass in a Roman cemetery on All Souls’ Day, on  Saturday, 2 November, Pope Francis visited the Laurentino Cemetery, the third largest in Rome.  

He celebrated the Mass in an area reserved for deceased children and unborn babies called the “Garden of Angels.”

Silent prayer for the departed

The Pope arrived shortly before 10.00 a.m. and was welcomed by the Mayor of Rome Roberto Gualtieri and a group of about 100  faithful. Among them Stefano, a father who lost his daughter Sara in 2021 during pregnancy  who consigned a letter to him.

Before the liturgy, the Pope  briefly stopped in front of the  graves and laid a bunch of  white roses on  the stone with the inscription "Garden of Angels." 

Pope's prayer before the final Blessing

During the Mass Pope Francis didn’t deliver a homily, but prayed silently for a few intense moments.

Before the final blessing  he prayed these words

In visiting the cemetery, a place of rest for our deceased brothers and sisters, we renew our faith in Christ who died, was buried, and rose for our salvation. Mortal bodies too will awaken on the last day, and those who have fallen asleep in the Lord will join Him in triumph over death. With this certainty, we lift up to the Father our united prayer of intercession and blessing.

Blessed are you, O God, Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who in Your great mercy has reborn us through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead to a living hope, to an inheritance that does not perish and does not fade (cf. 1 Pt 1:3-4). Hear the prayer we offer to You for all our loved ones who have left this world. Open the arms of your mercy and receive them into the glorious assembly of the holy Jerusalem.

Comfort those who mourn in sorrow, with the assurance that the dead live in You and that even bodies entrusted to the earth will one day share in the Easter victory of your Son. You, who placed on the Church's path the Blessed Virgin Mary as a radiant sign, sustain our faith through her intercession, so that no obstacle may lead us astray from the path that leads to You, who are the endless glory. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Pope greeted by a group of mothers who have lost a child

During the visit Pope Francis was also greeted by a group of mothers who have lost a son or a daughter at a young age and are reunited in an association called “Sparks of Hope”. Each one them gave the Pope a white scarf: "It’s our warm embrace for him, a symbolic hug also from our children," they explained, expressing gratitude for his "serious and respectful" silence during the Mass and for his presence at the Laurentino Cemetery: "Its a testament of affection. A powerful way to be close to our children,” they said.   

Pope Francis' visit to the Military Cemetery of Rome on 2 November 2023

This is the second time Pope Francis offered  Mass for the deceased in the Laurentino Cemetery on All Souls’ Day, the first being in 2018. 

Last year he went to a Military Cemetery of Rome where 426 Commonwealth soldiers  of the Second World War are buried. Reflecting on those soldiers whose lives were  “cut short” by war, he said he could “not help but think of today's wars.”   Echoing his constant refrain over the past  years he insisted that “Wars are always a defeat. Always.”

The Pope made a similar plea against t “self-destruction” of war on All Souls' Day 2017, at the Anzio War Cemetery, near Rome,  where  7,861 Allied soldiers  who  fought the deadly Battle of Anzio in January 1944 againts the Germans (the so-called "Operation Shingle"), are buried. Again, he warned that “With war we lose everything..."  and that war only brings death and destruction.

The Mass at  the Teutonic Cemetery in 2020 during COVID-19 pandemic

In 2020, the Pope opted to stay in the Vatican  because of COVID-19 pandemic and celebrate Mass  for the deceased in the Church of Our Lady of Mercy, in 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. The previous year he celebrated Mass at the Catacombs of Priscilla.

As per custom during the week of All Saints’ and All Souls’ Day, on Monday 4 November 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.