Salzburg residents gather to remember loved ones on All Saints Day

People gathered at cemeteries across Salzburg on Sunday to remember deceased relatives, with parishes traditionally blessing graves in the early afternoon, ORF reported.

In St. Koloman, a municipality in the Tennengau region, the parish community first prayed together in church. The priest then went to the cemetery with a pastoral assistant and altar servers to bless the graves, where people had gathered.

For parish priest Oswald Scherer, All Saints Day remains one of the strongest traditional days of the year. He said many people still attend church and visit cemeteries, although some may not do so because their relatives are buried elsewhere or they feel less connected to death and the deceased.

Pastoral worker Lucia Greiner said mourning customs are changing as cremations and urn burials become more common, and as people move away from the places where their relatives are buried. Many communities now have dedicated rooms where people can express their grief even if they do not have a grave locally.

The Catholic Church commemorates all the dead on All Souls Day, Monday. It counts around 6,500 saints and blesseds, whom it recognizes according to specific criteria.