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Catholic Cemeteries of Halifax

About Us

As a ministry of the Archdiocese of Halifax-Yarmouth, Catholic Cemeteries of Halifax staff is here to help you through the process of burial. Understanding staff are ready to assist you with your needs.

Serving families since 1843, our cemeteries have served as the final resting place for loved ones. The catholic cemetery is a place of peace for families. The Grounds and Columbarium provide beautiful resting places for the deceased.

Our Catholic Cemeteries are holy places for prayer, for memory, for service, for renewed purpose.

Catholic Cemeteries of Halifax cares for: Gate of Heaven, Lower Sackville; Holy Cross, South Park Street, Halifax; Mount Olivet, Mumford Road, Halifax.

A Catholic Cemetery has a two-fold purpose in the community. They provide a permanent resting place for the remains of our beloved dead. They offer a comforting environment in which love for family and friends is remembered, hope is rekindled, faith is awakened, renewed and strengthened. Faith and hope in our own resurrection are focal points in the way we honour the passing of a person from this life to the next.

The Catholic Cemetery is a sacred place; it is holy ground where our faithful departed await the resurrection to eternal life. The respect we show the faithful departed and the places where they rest remind us of our hope of joyfully greeting them again.

 Burying the Dead - A Corporal Work of Mercy

For the Christian, burying the dead is one of the Corporal Works of Mercy.  Our physical death marks the conclusion of our earthly baptismal journey and our transition into eternal life. Our Christian Catholic burial practices are an expression of our hope in the resurrection.  For this reason, the body is to be buried or entombed in a sacred, public place, where the grave will bear the name of the deceased – the name by which the person was baptized into the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, the name that establishes the identity of the deceased as a child of God.  As such, a nameless disposal of cremated remains, such as scattering or dispersing, does not reflect the sacredness of the human body, nor does it comply with the teachings of the Church.

Catholic Cemeteries of Halifax

Did you know? Catholic Cemeteries of Halifax cares for three cemeteries:

    • Gate of Heaven, Lower Sackville
    • Holy Cross, South Park St, Halifax
    • Mount Olivet, Mumford Rd, Halifax
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Catholic Cemeteries

Our Cemeteries

The Catholic cemetery is a sacred place; it is holy ground where our faithful departed await the resurrection to eternal life. This is why the grounds of the cemetery are cared for and made as attractive as possible, maintained in this way as a sign of respect for the dead who rest in peace. The special respect we accord to the faithful departed and the places where they rest remind us of our hope of joyfully greeting them again, when we will be with them and the Lord forever.

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Gate of Heaven Cemetery

Located in Lower Sackville opening in 1938, the cemetery is 31 rolling acres of land for traditional and cremation burials for our beloved departed.

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Holy Cross Cemetery

Located in Halifax opening in 1843, houses the chapel built in one day and is the resting place of many historical and Irish families.

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Mount Olivet Cemetery

Located in Halifax opening in 1896. Those buried in the cemetery include people from the Titanic, the Halifax Explosion, and both the World Wars.

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Archdiocesan Funeral Guidelines

Archbishop Mancini in collaboration with the clergy, religious and lay faithful of our Church of IMG 2500 webHalifax-Yarmouth prepared the document on Catholic funerals in the Archdiocese of Halifax Yarmouth. The document is titled "Catholic Funerals: Theological and Pastoral Considerations".

The document touches on the frequent experience in our faith communities that funerals draw people with diverse connections to the Catholic faith or faith in general. Liturgical options, specifically the separation of the Funeral Rite (Order of Christian Funerals) and the celebration of the Eucharist, can facilitate a fuller involvement of mourners at Catholic funerals. As well new opportunities are presented to evangelize and catechized a Christian understanding of life, death and resurrection. For the faithful the opportunity to celebrate Eucharist at a memorial Mass within a short time of the funeral liturgy can be much more meaningful experience of communion.

This guidelines addresses issues like eulogies, use of Christian symbols at funerals, cremation, and the celebration of the funeral rite at funeral parlors as well as other points to assist parish personnel in the ministry to those who are grieving.

download:             English (pdf)                          French (pdf)