Father Luis Humberto Arboleda Tamayo has just completed his third year as spiritual and administrative leader of the parish of San José de El Poblado, a dignity that makes him responsible, among other things, for the operation of the small and almost hidden cemetery that rests in a corner trees in the Manila neighborhood.
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Like his predecessors, since this Catholic cemetery was closed for new burials in August 2009, he has heard all kinds of stories, complaints and speculations about the present and future of that space, practically unknown to many visitors and residents of Comuna 14.
“There is no plan B to continue operating it as we have done. It is still owned by the parish, we continue to manage it. It is not going to be sold nor are there plans for its renovation. There are loose ideas, but nothing more. It will not be a park either, much less a building will be built there. There is nothing defined today,” emphasizes the priest.
For years, the parish has invited mourners to dispose of the buried remains of their deceased; Thus the cemetery would only guard its more than three thousand ossuaries, almost all of them in use. There are still 13 graves with unclaimed bodies; the only occupants of the 566 existing vaults.
“Before thinking about any reform, this issue must be resolved. We also want the ossuaries to become ashes, that is, for the bones to be removed, cremated and placed in urns. Some families don’t want to and others don’t seem to care. We know of cases in which they have consolidated the property title, which was a kind of diploma that the parish gave to the buyer of each ossuary.”
When asked about the general deterioration of the cemetery, he accepts it, although he does not admit that there has been abandonment. “Less than 2% of the relatives who have relatives in the ossuaries recognize the annuity for maintenance, which is $45,000.” Even so, the parish has a worker who opens Thursday and Saturday mornings, keeps the cemetery clean, paints it and takes care of its green areas.
“It is not justified to have a full-time employee when the influx is so little. We have tried to schedule masses at different times and very few people go. We open on Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, also in November we try to do it all month. Much less is it justified to invest millions (which we do not have and are needed) in replacing cement slabs, to say the least, if in an uncertain future, all that space will end up changing.”