End-of-life dialogue easier in one’s mother tongue, cemetery finds

Navigating funeral arrangements and wills can be a delicate and complex task, but talking about it in one’s mother tongue can may make that conversation slightly easier.

That’s what Peter Nobes, director of Catholic Cemeteries, has found after offering advance planning workshops in Vietnamese, Cantonese, and most recently in Korean. He also has advisers on staff who speak a variety of languages including Cantonese, Spanish, Tagalog, and Italian.

“People who come to us, when English isn’t their first language, it gives them comfort to speak to someone in their own language,” said Nobes. “It builds trust.”

In addition to breaking down language barriers, these multilingual options are helpful when it comes to handling cultural sensitivities, too, said Nobes. “There are a lot of nuances in funerals.”

Nobes began offering advance planning workshops in English at the beginning of 2021, addressing everything from health-care instructions to wills to funeral planning. But he struggled to drum up enough interest.

When he started offering the same classes in different languages, inviting lawyers and priests fluent in those languages to run various portions, he realized he had found the key. Interest grew exponentially, with the most recent workshop in Korean attracting 150 participants.

The next workshop is booked for Oct. 30 at Immaculate Conception Parish in Delta in Tagalog and English. Nobes also hosts monthly advance planning workshops in English online.

Anyone looking for an adviser in a language other than English can check the top of the Catholic Cemeteries website to see if their native tongue is listed.