VATICAN – Pope Francis has recognised All Saints Day by visiting the consecrated Laurentino cemetery on the outskirts of Rome on Friday, in which a section is designated for unborn and aborted foetuses, Vatican sources say.

 With his visit to Laurentino on Friday, Francis became the first pontiff to hold a mass in intercession for the dead at the cemetery in southern Rome. He was accompanied by Cardinal Vicar Angelo de Donatis, the auxiliary bishop of the South sector of Rome Paolo Lojudice and the Chaplain of the cemetery Don Claudio Palma.

 During the ceremony, the pontiff stopped for prayer in front of the area where unborn and aborted children are buried, known as the Garden of Angels.

 The Laurentino cemetery was consecrated in 2002 by Cardinal Camillo Ruini and is the third largest of Rome’s eleven burial grounds.

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