Rest in peace

2 years ago
17

The Cimitero Acattolico (Non-Catholic Cemetery) of Rome, often referred to as the Cimitero dei protestanti (Protestant Cemetery) or Cimitero Inglese (English Cemetery).
Since the norms of the Catholic Church forbade burying on consecrated ground non-Catholics - including Protestants, Jews and Orthodox - as well as suicides and actors (these, after death, were "expelled" by the Christian community and buried outside the walls or at the extreme edge of the same). Burials occurred at night to avoid manifestations of religious fanaticism and to preserve the safety of those who participated in the funeral rites.
It was the non-Catholics themselves who chose those places for their burials, and they were allowed by a decision of the Holy Office, which in 1671 consented that the "non-Catholic Lords" who died in the city were spared the shame of finding a burial together with prostitutes and sinners in the cemetery of the Muro Torto.

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