Love Has No Bounds

A Catholic woman and her Protestant husband found a special way to stay connected even after they passed away, despite their different religions.

Colonel Jacobus van Gorkum was buried on the Protestant side of a cemetery in Roermond, Netherlands, and his wife, Lady Josephina van Aefferden, was buried on the Catholic side. The reason they weren’t buried together wasn’t because it was forbidden—in fact, many inter-religious couples were buried together. Instead, the Catholic wife specifically wanted a Catholic burial in hallowed ground, blessed by the Catholic Church. However, since her Protestant husband couldn’t be buried in the same hallowed ground due to the burial policies of both their faiths, the churches worked together to find a solution. This allowed the wife to have the Catholic burial she wished for, while her husband was buried in the cemetery right next to, but not technically within, the hallowed ground.

Unknown photographer from unusualplaces.org website.