MANILA (UCAN): Thousands of people flocked to cemeteries in the Philippines on October 28 for a last chance to visit the graves of their dearly departed ahead of a government-ordered nationwide closure of graveyards for All Saints’ Day.
Major cemeteries in Manila are usually crowded for All Saints’ Day—a tradition dating back centuries to the ancient practice in Rome, which honours all saints and martyrs who died for the faith.
Many Filipinos hold family reunions at the graves of their relatives. But for the second year in a row, the government has ordered the shutting of cemeteries for fear that the “day of the dead” could turn into a Covid-19 superspreader event.
An official tally showed that more than 60,000 people poured into the sprawling Manila North Cemetery in the days prior to October 28, where many poor people live in shanties amid the mausoleums.
After undergoing temperature checks, relatives placed small bouquets of white flowers and lit candles on tombs and then left.
Hours before the gates were locked, Eloisa Sebastian visited the grave of her 60-year-old mother, Erly, who died suddenly in April.
“We used to run to her whenever we had problems, so it’s difficult to accept [she’s gone],” AFP reported her as saying. “I still cry almost every day, even at work.”
But the atmosphere was quiet and somber with relatively few visitors.
One flower vendor, Bebe Fernandez, told AFP that her sales plunged this year. “People have no money because of this pandemic.”
As we celebrate the 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines. The Chaplaincy to Filipino Migrants organises an on-line talk every Tuesday at 9.00pm. You can join us at:
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Covid-19 restrictions have devastated the economy and thrown millions out of work during the pandemic, which has seen more than 2.7 million people infected and over 42,000 deaths.
In a pastoral letter issued on September 21, Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan, said that it is evident and to be expected that, like the Lenten and Easter seasons, our observance of All Saints-All Souls Days will be substantially affected by Covid-19.
Noting the ongoing community quarantine, he urged continued observance of basic health precautions and social distancing, reminding people to wear masks and face shields in public, pointing out that “these measures minimise the spread of Covid-19 because the virus travels in the air through water droplets.”
The archbishop noted that Catholic cemeteries would not be accessible to the faithful as an act of social responsibility. “As most of us have availed of spiritual communion during this time that we are unable to physically attend Mass, so we are encouraged to focus more on the spiritual communion of prayers for the faithful departed this year,” he wrote.
“We who are unable to visit the cemeteries pray that someday, we can join the saints in heaven. Our destiny is heaven not the grave,” Archbishop Villegas said.
