HONG KONG (SE): Father Dominic Chan Chi-ming blessed the naming-wall erected at the Angels’ Garden at the Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery, Chai Wan, during a ceremony on September 19. The wall was erected to place commemorative plaques bearing the names of the miscarried babies whose remains are buried in the Angels’ Garden. The wall bears the names of 55 miscarried babies.
Father Chan celebrated a Mass at an outdoor altar for the parents of the miscarried babies, buried in the garden. The priest, an ex-officio member of the Diocesan Board of Catholic Cemeteries, said in his homily that miscarried babies reminded us, those alive, that life is a gift from God for which we should be grateful.
Father Chan said the garden also gives people a pro-life message against abortion. At the end of the Mass, he blessed the naming wall, while the parents paid floral tribute to the babies laid to rest in the garden.
The first baby was interred at the Angels’ Garden on June 2017. It is a communal place designated for the remains of babies who have passed 24 weeks after gestation. No specific lot is allocated for the mortal remains and the entire area will be reused after five years as it is expected that the remains will have been absorbed by nature at the end of the period. However, parents can choose to affix the names of their babies in on the wall.
One mother, Cheung Hiu-yan, said she is glad to see the name plaque of her son on the naming wall as a permanent remembrance. She recounted that three years ago, she was pregnant for the second time and she suffered a miscarriage at 10 weeks. She said the heartbeat of the baby was detected during her first antenatal examination but not the second time. While waiting for the natural delivery of the dead fetus at home, a friend suggested that she contacted the Angels’ Garden.
Cheung said that at present, she has two sons, aged four and one. Her husband, Chan Yao-ki, said the burial of their second son helped them to cope with the bereavement and gave the whole family a chance to say goodbye.
Tse Mei-yi, another mother who suffered a miscarriage, founded a concern group to fight for the burial of fetal remains. She was grateful that her dead son was buried in the garden instead of being disposed of by the hospital as medical waste. She said seeing her son’s name on the wall gave her further comfort. Dominic
