Pope Francis visited the cemetery on All Soul 's Day , Thursday , 2 November 2017 , in a brief papal visit to the area for the commemoration , where he toured the cemetery grounds and placed flowers on some grave headstones , including an unknown soldier , and Italian-American soldier , and a Jewish soldier . Afterwards , in purple , as is custom for the day , he celebrated Mass and preached a homily at the cemetery . Following the visit there , he moved on to the site of the Ardeatine massacre , named for the forested area in which it took place
Ardeatine massacre
Ardeatine massacre
Sicily–Rome American Cemetery and Memorial