Catholic Cemeteries holds indigent burial

Cemetery workers unload a casket from a hearse. The Archdiocese of Chicago and Cook County hold a committal service to bury indigent and unidentified persons on Oct. 16, 2024, at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Chicago. The committal service included burial of six unidentified persons and 95 cremated indigent remains. Students from St. Laurence High School and Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School joined local funeral directors and other volunteers who accompanied each decedent at the service and stayed until the burial was complete. This burial marked 5,341 unborn, indigent and unknown persons buried at the South Side cemetery since 2012 when Catholic Cemeteries of the Archdiocese of Chicago partnered with Cook County to provide dignified burials for these decedents as a public service. (Joyce Duriga/Chicago Catholic)

Identification tags as seen on a casket containing cremated remains. (Joyce Duriga/Chicago Catholic)

St. Laurence High School students Samantha Petrey and Faith Arenibar place their hands on a casket at the start of the service. (Joyce Duriga/Chicago Catholic)

Participants bow their heads in prayer during the service. (Joyce Duriga/Chicago Catholic)

Mother McAuley High School student Hayley Dotson blesses a casket with holy water while her classmate Ronia Linton looks on. The students took turns blessing the remains after they were blessed by Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and Father Larry Sullivan, director of Catholic Cemeteries. (Joyce Duriga/Chicago Catholic)

Yellow roses rest on top of a casket with cremated remains. People at the service placed yellow roses on top of the caskets following the service. (Joyce Duriga/Chicago Catholic)

Cemetery workers lower a casket into the ground following the service. (Joyce Duriga/Chicago Catholic)