Chileans Blocked From Visiting Cemeteries On All Saints Day

Visitors at Parque del Recuerdo, a cemetery in Santiago. Photo courtesy of Parque del Recuerdo.

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(OPINION) Cemeteries in Chile will be empty this year on All Saints Day. 

Every Nov. 1, thousands of families visit their deceased relatives and friends as part of a popular tradition in Chile and the Americas. This year, the Chilean government ordered cemeteries to close on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, saying it is a measure to prevent contagion of COVID-19. The same reason wasn’t an argument when, just a week ago, the government urged Chileans to vote. The inconsistency on whether it’s safe to go out or not has enraged some Catholics, who would like to visit their deaths on All Saints Day, a tradition that has passed on generations. 

Since 2008, Oct. 31 has also been a holiday that celebrates evangelical and other protestant churches in Chile. Both have become pilgrimage days to cemeteries for Catholics and evangelicals alike. In other countries, All Souls Day, on Nov. 2, is a holiday. 

“If the government can organize a massive referendum with certain protocols, why can’t we visit our deceased relatives with the same protocols?” said Julio Pozo, spokesperson of the Chilean chapter of Catholic Voices, a U.K.-born group that trains speakers to represent the Church in the media. 

On Oct. 25, 7.5 million people cast their ballots on a constitutional referendum. One third of the voters were in Santiago, the country’s capital city. The number is higher than the people who usually go to cemeteries on Nov. 1: according to Pozo, one million visit their deceased relatives in Santiago that day. 

During the referendum, polling stations allowed a limited number of people inside. Voting through mail doesn’t exist in Chile. People wanting to vote formed in line outside, with some waiting up to four hours. 

Pozo says a similar protocol should apply to cemeteries. In addition, cemeteries are open spaces and polling stations are indoors — where the coronavirus can spread more easily.

After the results came out, with 78% of the voters wanting a new constitution, thousands of people gathered to celebrate in cities’ downtown areas. There was no social distancing and the government didn’t ask the crowd to return home to avoid the spread of the virus. This approach to large gatherings differs from other events. A few days later, a government official asked people not to go to cemeteries on All Saints Day, as the pandemic persists. 

“There’s a government inconsistency,” Pozo said.

According to a 2018 poll from Santiago-based think tank Center for Public Studies, 55% of Chileans are Catholics.

Catholics are getting slammed in the face when looking for the church hierarchy to advocate for freedom of worship. When the pandemic started to hit Chile in March, the Archdiocese of Santiago recommended that worshippers follow mass on the radio, television or the internet, limiting in-person ceremonies to up to five people in line with government policies. 

As the country started reducing the number of new daily coronavirus cases, the government allowed some cities to begin opening up. New cases grew to over five thousand daily in June, having decreased by more than half since August. With the spread of the virus stabilizing, churches have had a slow reopening when compared to retail shops. 

“It has hurt us that it seems that the owners of the Costanera Center and other malls have more desire to open their businesses and restaurants than the priests to offer the Holy Communion,” wrote Bárbara Symmes, a Chilean Catholic, on a blog post on Aug. 30. 

The Church has been absent from the religious debate during the pandemic, a sign of its lack of leadership. Priests involved in sex scandals that surfaced over the last decade have made the Church less relevant in the public debate. 

Meanwhile, attacks on churches have increased since protesters set up on fire subway stations over a fare increase in Santiago on October 18, 2019. On Oct. 18, a year after the riots began, they burned down two of the oldest Catholic churches in Santiago. 

With the attacks on churches as with the return to religious ceremonies or the celebration of religious holidays, such as All Saints Day, the Church hierarchy seems absent in advocating for its worshippers. 

Pozo contrasts this attitude with that of the Archdiocese of Paris, which is encouraging Catholics to attend mass. 

“Why can’t we help people express their faith?” he said.    

As the Christian world prepares for Christmas, the biggest holiday along with Easter, uncertainty grows over how the Chilean government will ask people to behave. Will we see empty churches, limited family gatherings or empty malls to prevent people from buying gifts as a way to reduce contagion risk? Will the country look empty like cemeteries on All Saints Day? Pozo has one suggestion: to advocate for protocols without suppressing religious freedom.

Graciela Ibáñez is a journalist and translator with a Master of Arts from Columbia Journalism School, where she graduated in 2008. She works as a freelance reporter covering Chile for foreign media outlets. She worked as a reporter for Dow Jones Newswires in Santiago and for the Financial Times Group in New York City. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez in her hometown of Viña del Mar, where she lives.