Many people are unsure about the views of the Catholic Church concerning the topic of cremation. So you’re probably wondering, can Catholics be cremated?.
The simple answer is yes, but there are rules you need to follow.
Anyone familiar with the Catholic Church knows that over the years, they have changed their policies many times on numerous principles of morality and faith. And cremation is no exception.
To clear up any confusion, we’ll look at these changes specifically for cremation and talk about which guidelines you should pay attention to.
Why Was Cremation Not Allowed?
Archaeologists believe that cremation has been around since the stone ages and initially used in Europe. It was later a common method for the disposing of remains in Rome by 600 BCE and in Greece by 800 BCE.
In early times, the Romans cremated their dead due to their belief that there is no afterlife. This was a strict contradiction to the belief of Christians. Subsequently, they associated cremation with the Pagan societies of Rome and Greece, which was one of their reasons for rejecting it.
Biblical Scripture
Additionally, disallowing cremation stemmed from the biblical scripture (Gen. 1: 26-27), which teaches an extreme respect for the human body, both in life and in death. Christians believed in the resurrection of the body after death, therefore cremating was not in accordance with their custom of burying their dead in tombs.
In 1917, the code of Canon Law allowed cremation only in times of plague, disaster, or other situations that necessitated a quick disposal of the body.
The Catholic Church’s Change in Policy
In 1963, the Catholic Church changed its policy and lifted the ban on cremating due to sanitation risks, overcrowded cemeteries, and financial reasons. Nevertheless, they were still adamant that burying the dead was preferred.
However, there was an exception. It was not allowed if it were in disregard to the rituals, or it was meant to provoke the Church. Additionally, it was their preference that the funeral ceremony be performed before the body was cremated.
Change of Funeral Guidelines
In 1997 they again changed their code, allowing the funeral to be performed in the presence of the cremated body. It was deemed that if there is not a presence of the deceased in some form, which can be mourned by the family and friends, it can hinder a healthy mourning.
The Church is still adamant that the remains are to be buried in the same manner as a whole body, which is in a sacred place.
“The body that lies in death recalls the personal story of faith, the past relationships, and the continued spiritual presence of the deceased person” (OCF, Cremation Appendix, p.11)
The Vatican’s Recent Announcement on Scattering Ashes in 2016
All Souls Day Celebrations
In 2016, the day before “All Souls Day,” which is a major Catholic holiday, the Vatican issued definitive guidelines concerning cremation.
The Church earnestly recommends that the pious custom be retained, but it does not forbid cremation, unless this is chosen for reasons, which are contrary to Christian teaching.
Many Catholics desire that their ashes be scattered in a place which is special to them or their loved one. However, it was decreed that ashes are not to be scattered on land, in the air, at sea, or in any other fashion.
In addition, ashes are not to be exhibited in the home, made into jewelry, cremation diamonds, cremation art, or any other method of display.
Where to Bury Ashes
Cremated remains are to be buried in cemeteries or other sacred locations only, that encourage the Catholic community to pray for and remember the dead.
You may ask what it would mean to a Catholic should they decide to have their ashes scattered or by other methods that are contrary to the Catholic faith. In that situation, a Catholic funeral would be denied to that person.
Interment Of Ashes in Cemetery
History of Catholic Cremation
In the early days, if a Christian chose cremation over burial, it implied that they no longer believed in the resurrection or were scoffing at it.
Christians especially detested that Celtic tribes of Northern Europe and Romans frequently reserved cremating for high ranking military figures. After the collapse of the Roman Empire, cremation dissipated from Europe before the seventh century.
Enlightenment Period
In the last quarter of the 19th century, European nationalists believed that bringing back the practice of cremation would create a stronger and more authentic individuality. They were also influenced by the Buddhists and Hindu funeral traditions, where this is routine practice.
Nonetheless, Christianity later became the official religion and cremation was banned.
Today, many argue that cremating is favorable because reducing the body to ashes in a few hours is more sanitary than decomposition and it’s an answer to the problem of overcrowded cemeteries.
The price of cremation is also a more affordable choice for families who cannot afford a traditional Catholic funeral.
The Correct Way to Cremate
The accepted method of the Catholic Church for disposing of the ashes is as follows:
- The remains should be treated with reverence at all times, including when being handled or transported.
- The ashes should be placed in an urn or other proper container.
- A stand or table is prepared in the place that is normally occupied by the casket.
- The vessel in which the remains are contained can be carried to the prepared place during the entrance procession or it can be placed there before the beginning of the liturgy.
- The Catholic funeral rites which consist of the vigil and the funeral Mass (if it is the judgement of the diocesan bishop) are performed.
- The body is cremated either before or after the ceremony, depending on each situation.
- The burial takes place in a sacred location such as a cemetery, mausoleum, or crypt.
- Rite of Committal is celebrated at the burial site.
- A gravestone or memorial plaque should be placed at the burial site to record the memory of the deceased.
Funeral Service Before Cremation
Previously the Church maintained that the funeral ceremony should be performed with the body intact before the cremation takes place. However they have changed their view on the matter as well. They adamantly prefer it to be before, but realize there are special instances that are the exception.
Funeral Service After Cremation
Frequently, the cost of a typical funeral with a ceremony, visitation, casket, and other facets presents a problem for many families. Therefore the Church may allow the cremation before, so that family and friends have the ashes at the ceremony to give them a presence of the deceased.
In this case, the wording of the Vigil for the Deceased, Prayers After Death, Funeral Liturgy, and other ceremonies are adapted. Reference to burying or honoring the body of the dead can be replaced with alternate prayers.
Whether or not it’s appropriate to celebrate the liturgy for the dead, with or without mass and with the ashes present is on a case by case judgment by the diocesan bishop.
Catholic Funeral Ceremony
In present time, numerous funeral homes now perform a simple embalming. In addition, they will actually rent a casket to the family for use during the funeral and the viewing, making it more affordable.
The Catholic Church Today
The Church has always had strict guidelines, as well as many other statutes and it is expected that people of the Catholic faith abide by those guidelines.
Fortunately, over the past 50 or so decades, it has adapted a great deal to the changing times and has adjusted so that Catholics can follow their faith in a reasonable fashion. The Church will likely continue this practice as the world continues to revolutionize.
If you still have questions about your personal situation, seek the advice and knowledge of your local priest.
According to the Order of Christian Funerals (OCF 412), “This is the body once washed in baptism, anointed with the oil of salvation, and fed with the bread of life. This is the body whose hands clothed the poor and embraced the sorrowing. Indeed, the human body is so inextricably associated with the human person that it is hard to think of a human person apart from his or her body.”
Are Catholics allowed to attend the scattering of ashes of another Catholic?
You can do whatever your heart desires as long as it is factually scriptural. Catholics have a lot of rules and rituals that factually are NOWHERE in the bible.
This comment is true that not all Teachings are found in the Bible but no where does the Bible indicate that it needs to be. The Bible is not in the Bible, scripture is referring to the Old Testament, The trinity is not stated in the Bible either, the teachings are taught directly or indirectly and doesn’t contradict the teachings of Christ
Catholics are not Protestants and most realize that “Scripture Alone” is an illogical fallacy. The first authorities Be Testament as it stands today was not collated until between 350 and 500 AD when, after the councils of Nicea and Constantinople, Saint Jerome translated the authoritatively approved “books” (ie Gospels, Epistles and Apostolic letters) into the Latin “Vulgate” Bible.
If not for The Catholic, Apostolic Church and the early councils, it’s hard to say from where Protestants would have received a Bible to interpret according to 40,000 denominations.
The Catholic Church has most definitely had some serious problems throughout more than two millennia. But I’d venture to say that the closer it gets to mimicking Protestant beliefs, the further from The Truth of Christ it wanders. Today, it has come to cater to Protestant sensibilities so completely that it teeters on the point of schism.
But Our Lord Himself told us that the wheat and the tares would grow together in His earthly Kingdom until the time s right for a final separation.
Retain the dignity and unity of human remains after death and remain united in Hope of The Resurrection. A sacramental burial is important, if it is at all possible.
As taught by The Catechism of the Catholic Church:
#1257: _God has bound salvation to the sacrament of Baptism, but he himself is not bound by his sacraments_ .
As a Korea War NAVY vet, I always worried about the RC Church’s view of burial at sea in a non-shark proof canvas bag?
The least expensive funeral with no casket is $7400. Here in NC. For someone who does not have that sitting in a bank wil the local parish pick up the cost?
A dead body whether fom sickness or lost;in a building or… or ….is no different.The Mass of Resuraction for the soul is the immportant factor. Wake up reverends you want a wake with cementary plot average 8 to 10 grand pay for it How about buying plots and giving them for a donation?
I agree with this comment. Since the Church requires this and that, they should pay for the cost.
Agree 100%! The church is always looking for its two cents.
The purpose of a proper burial is to respect the life that has passed from this life to the next. We must always treat human life with dignity y whether alive or dead. Human life is sacred!!! It’s not about money!!!!
I wholly agree…. we don not have that kind of money and NOONE comes to see us now while we are alive, who is going to come to our grave…. I am personally gibing back to the earth and having my ashes scattered at the Neptune Memorial Reef, rather than take more mother earth to a burial.
The Church doesn’t charge anything, the funeral home does though. You pre-pay funerals or make payments while you are alive on a plan if you don’t have life insurance. I’ve found shopping around for a cheaper price and paying today’s prices instead of future prices is cheaper. Where I live you can get a plot and be buried for less than 8k. People pay more for cars, than their final resting places.
Amen
The Church does provide all kinds of exceptions to the idea that a deceased must be buried. My son was cremated, his ashes placed in an urn and the remains were buried in the Catholic cemetery. Lots of people have had a failure of understanding what the Church requires and what it doesn’t. As long as the remains are kept together, you can bury them in a Catholic cemetery. Also, the cost is often assumed by the Church when a parishioner can’t afford to do so.
This is why people have life insurance. You can easily get a $10k, or $20k life insurance policy
The guidelines are not meant to suggest that the Catholic Church now prefers cremation over burial of the body, as that isn’t the case. In fact, they stem from earlier burial instructions published in 1963, when the Holy Office established “Piam et Constantem,” which established that Catholics should be buried with reverence and that cremation wasn’t “opposed per se to the Christian religion.” As such, those who were cremated could still receive the sacraments and funeral rites as long as their decision to be cremated was not an indication of their “denial of Christian dogmas, the animosity of a secret society, or hatred of the Catholic religion and the Church,” the “Piam et Constantem” read, according to a statement by the Vatican .
I don’t understand why the ashes cannot be scattered. In this day a cemetery plot is very expensive and most people do not have the money. I want my body donated to science and then cremation. It doesn’t matter what happens to the ashes because on judgment God will put us all back together in our bodies.
Amen to this. I want to donate my body, too. God knows our heart’s desires.
Be loving wise for yourself and your loved ones … prepare, save, perhaps getting a plan(like those insurance ones) will bring value dignifying.
make a video of your personal wishes in planning for your demise. My sister of 87 years did and it solved all problems. She left the video with her niece, who was her care giver for a number of years thus, excluding her four children and endless grandchildren due to the fact that not one of them enabled her to end her days with ease, comfort or honor. Basically she died penniless ! Also she was a strict disciplinarian !
My husband was cremated in March 2016, we had a Catholic Funeral ceremony at the funeral home, because of the Easter holiday, he died on Palm Sunday. then we scattered Most of his ashes at sea, with his father and mother present, I kept some for myself, now my “holier than though” ex fatherin law, who disowned me, directly after my husbands death, aftera great 33 years of marriage and the last 5 years as a caregiver to my husband, now this man is requested the rest of my husbands ashes back. What is the Catholic church going to do with “the rest” of my husband ashes? I have very, very minimal amount of them. It was my husband’s request to be cremated and buried at sea. What to do? I wanted to have another ceremony with all my children and realease them into the ocean with the rest of him.
Hello, and I am sorry for you loss and the aftermath. I think what you plan with your children is a great idea.
I agree with you Rose.
Your father in law has no say in what happens to the ashes of your husband.
Agree and if that’s their attitude, disregard them totally.
By all means you do what you want. You were his wife, do not let anyone steer you in the opposite direction you most want. It is your late husband’s request and up to you to finalize his last wishes. God bless you and your family given the the ability to satisfy your every wish. I commend you.
This is a late answer, but I hope you decided not to scatter the “rest of the ashes”, but consulted your priest on how to handle this. If you have, sister in Christ, bring that to Confession. God bless you and may your husband rest in peace.
If you care about following the obligations of the Catholic Church, you should probably consult with a priest instead of a website called “cremationinstitute.com.” Alternatively, if you would rather follow your desires than what the Church wants, you can just not be a Catholic. It’s not that complicated. Regardless, God’s will isn’t going to change because you desire something that He thinks is bad. That’s . . . the whole point of sin, redemption, and the Church.
It is not surprising that the Cremation Institute would publish an article trying to defend cremation for Roman Catholics.
Our post-Christian culture is moving further and further away from the Christian doctrine of the resurrection of the body and respect for the body as the temple of the Holy Ghost.
Perhaps a good example for Christians to meditate upon is when Christ’s body was taken down from the Cross and placed into a tomb. For Catholics, read about how many early Saints risked their lives to gather the discarded bodies of executed Christians, to bury with dignity.
There is currently an intense campaign in our country to locate lost burial sites mostly of minorities.
How we respect our deceased is important. Either we believe we have eternal souls or we do not.
Please, Catholics, if you must choose cremation, please make arrangements for your body to be present for the funeral Mass and cremated afterward. Also, please make arrangements for the proper internment of your cremains. Get counsel from your priest and write down your wishes for your funeral Mass.
One of the absolutely best things about being Catholic is death. Please do not squander this great gift. The reason to be Catholic is for the salvation of your eternal soul. Follow through.
Thanks DeeDee,
Our brother recently passed away and prepaid for his Vigil/viewing and Mass. After the Funeral Mass he was taken to be cremated. There was an issue with the family plot not having enough room for his coffin so he reluctantly agreed to cremation, plus it was a little cheaper. His daughters ended up buying him his own plot for cremated Veterans very near our parents in a Catholic Cemetary. He is the first of our family members to be cremated. I realized afterwards, I’m not a fan of cremating and wished it were different for him . I’m not saying it’s not right for others. However, I find solace in the beautiful funeral he had with military honor, Tapps and flag folding outside the Church after. He will be laid to rest Friday 3/6/2020. Please say a prayer for him. God Bless✝️
Amen to that, Dee Dee.
I am now 61 years old and a Catholic. At this age I believe God gives us the Grace to contemplate our own death. I do not know when I will be called, but I find myself reflecting on this more and more of late. I do not feel the least bit morbid about it but feel the desire to prepare my soul and body for this passage of life.
I started today looking at Catholic sources on cremation and came upon this article. My wife and I do not have any savings and I do not want to leave behind a burden for her. She is not interested in any religious views and wants to be cremated with her ashes scattered on a farm. I have told her I would not be able to do this, so a member from her side of the family will attend to this. Anyway I digress, I am going to speak to my Catholic Priest and start making plans , What you so eloquently implore for Catholics to consider is fully inline with Church teaching and is the way I intend ( God Willing) to organise it.
For now I am living and breathing, by God’s grace and need to get my soul right with the Lord, Now is the time for life which actually means putting to death many things which are robbing my soul of that
everlasting joy.
Thank you and bless you for your inspiration.
Pax Christi
John
Catholics believe that the soul is immortal and does not depend on the physical body. Since cremation of the deceased’s remains do not affect his or her soul, according to the Church, there are no doctrinal objections to the practice.Oct 25, 2016
In my Parish in Bristol City England name St Augustine Down end. The ashes of parishioners are buried in the small graveyard with their names inscribed on a tombstone placed on the wall of the Church.
It is kept very neat by the parish priest
My friend just lost a loved one and his family is completely in shock. I appreciate how you explain that in the Catholic religion, cremation is allowed. I will recommend him to think about cremating the body since I know they are all Catholic.
I’m looking for guidance on what to do if the ashes have already been separated? My father passed in 2014, the Vatican clarified in 2016! By the he was already all over the place; majority in a Catholic mausoleum, the rest divided; me, my sister, at sea, in a memonto, etc. So now what?
That is the problem within the Catholic Church. Rules are changing and what once was is no longer. The Church seems to be able to tell us what to do, however, cannot control their own flock of priests.
I believe that the Catholic Church NEVER allowed that the ashes of the deceased were allowed to be separated.
This is neither the time or the place for such remarks..
You do not have to follow any rule from any church…
I do not feel that the catholic church has the right to tell me that I cannot do what I want with my ashes and that I cannot have a mass said should I decide not to inter my ashes to a cemetery. That is so bogus. Why don’t they concentrate on their pedophile priest situation and let decent people do what they wish with their bodies. They act like a government. Then I won’t do a mass at all, I know God is with me and I don’t need them to sanctify it.
Your comments are my comments exactly. The Catholic Church wants to tell us what to do and cannot control their own flock of priests. God knows our heart’s desires.
The Catholic Church has given GUIDELINES NOT RULES. There is a BIG difference. People will do what they want to do anyways, regardless.
What I see written by many here is what they feel and not what He commands. Feelings come from the heart, Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? The sins of our clergy are a separate issue from this. The wickedness of their sins comes from their hearts, not the Holy Spirit. If it comes from the Spirit, then it is pure, anything else is sinful. God may choose to change Tradition and he will send his Holy Spirit to make it known. What we believe or feel is irrelevant to the Word of God. Satan comes as a spirit of false light and plays upon our weak flesh and feelings. Call on Jesus especially in those times. God Bless!
Thank you all for your guidance here. My husband was not Catholic but we were married in the Church, our children were baptized and confirmed in the Church, and so I am asking a favorite friend/priest to bless his ashes and give them to me to scatter at the base of a new backyard tree and in a watering hole he found and shared with us many many times. I have prayed on this during the nearly six months since his death and know that this is right — and that this rite will honor him.
In the above article what is meant by “so that Catholics may follow their faith in a more reasonable fashion”, and “as the world continues to revolutionize”? To which revolution are you referring? Would the Church be considered more reasonable to allow Catholics to kill their unborn children, or to say that marriage can be between two people of the same sex?
Quite frankly, this issue of cremation vs. burial has always confused me. Especially when one considers airplane crashes, fires and massacres. However, being a Catholic I will do all in my power to follow the Churches teachings which STILL prefer a whole body burial in a cemetery. If I do not wish to follow the Churches teachings on this and other matters, what business do I have being Catholic. No one is forcing my to.
However, since the Church does allow the cremains to be present in lieu of the whole body, I would like to be cremated prior to the Mass of the Dead. I would like a Catholic ceremony performed at the cemetery before being interred in a niche within a Catholic cemetery.
I find the embalming / visitations/ and burial in a casket in the ground to be very expensive and a burden to family members. God doesn’t need my oxidized remains to be in a coffin in order to raise me from the dead. I will keep watch for the end of days from my place on the wall. Praise be to God!
Burials are merely sociological customs. You cannot find a scripture that requires anything regarding burial vs. cremation. GOD made human kind from the dust and to the dust we are to return. If GOD can make the whole world, then GOD can surely recreate our bodies in the resurrection (otherwise we will be mere bones at the resurrection). Just because some person (Pope, Bishop, Saint, etc.) decides something does not make it Christian or not Christian. What matters is what GOD says about something, and in this case there has been no stipulation in the scriptures.
I had my husband cremated and I have the ashes at home. My husband was raised in the Catholic Church and I was raised in the Methodist church. Our children and grandchildren have been raised as Catholics. I’ve always been against burial. I don’t want my body rotting in the ground for the next 50 years. When my grandparents passed away, they were cremated, their names written in the Book of Remembrance and their ashes scattered in the cemetery’s rose garden. They were Catholic. My children know that when I die, I want to be cremated immediately and my ashes mixed with my husband’s and spread somewhere pretty. The ashes of my late brother will also be spread with ours. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with my decision. My husband hated funerals, wakes, etc.; in over 30 years he only visited his mom’s grave a few times; he’d only been to his sister’s grave twice. I don’t want our children and grandchildren feeling some sort of obligation to visit our graves. Remember us when we were alive, the fun we had and the love we had.
It is because you do not believe in Purgatory that you say such things. The point of visiting the graves of our loved ones is to pray for them, that their purification may be swift and their entry to Heaven expedited.
I think Ann is more than capable of remembering to pray for her husband without having a grave to visit. If you believe that God is omnipresent, then the location of a prayer shouldn’t matter because it will be heard regardless. Likewise, an omnipresent God necessitates that any final resting place is sacred; it’s impossible to find a resting place with an absence of God. Andrew, do you doubt that God is everywhere and all knowing?
You don’t have to go to a cemetery grave to pray for loved ones. You don’t even HAVE to go to church to pray. period! Prayer is anytime and anywhere! I’m a recovering Catholic! God Bless!
Matthew 18:18
“Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
God will raise His people, I believe, no matter if they were buried whole or wholly ashes. He loves us
Cremation is forbidden in the true Catholic Tradition. Vatican II created a false church. Do not follow the post Vatican II false religion created by freemasons and communists who infiltrated the Church posing as Catholics. The body is not to be cremated at all. This is irreverence towards God as He will be raising the body anew for the righteous who are worthy of eternal life with God. For this reason the bodies of saints are preserved. Cremation is a mortal sin. Anyone following the false religion created by Vatican II is in danger.
So now we’re gone beyond a book written by men being the true word of God, or even what the men in the Vatican decree to be the wish of God …. now it is the opinion of a poster called Faithful True Catholic!!!???? From the sublime to the ridiculous.
Amen! That is absolutely correct! Christians had better wake up and stop risking their salvation!
Not the first person to claim this…
Prot·es·tant /ˈprädəstənt/
noun: Protestant; plural noun: Protestants
a member or follower of any of the Western Christian churches that are separate from the Roman Catholic Church
Background 3 uncles killed in WW 2 no bodies. One brother boating accident remains never found. Son killed in Twin Towers no remains . My husband cremamted. Ashes buried on golf course property. Gregorian Masses offered for his Soul. Each month Masses said for him. No disrespect ever intended. There was no extra money nor is there now any. I have arranged for Gregorian Masses and monthly Masses for my soul . A donation would have to be taken up and since Im 89 by whom ? No family and few friends left. I will be buried with my husband . Again there is no disrespect intended. Pure economics
More confused than ever,my family followed all regarding
Catholic beliefs, made sure I was Baptized, Communion, Confirmation, etc.weekly services, grandparents prayed at Vatican, family all buried
With service.Now, my very ill sister(70) not so involved, in religion,as i.must start arrangements, she is in nursing home,my daughter would like
Cremation, ( We don’t have funds, still hard to pay for anything).
My daughter understands how I was raised,shares many beliefs.
Would never push me either away .guess I am asking,others opinions,
Can I keep Urn in my home?
My husband worked for the Diocese of Houma / Thibodaux , La for 23 years. Long before he passed away from cancer, he had me promise to have him cremated and NOT to be buried in any cemetery associated with them. He was cheated out if his retirement due to the fact that they had to pay lawsuits for the priest that had molested alter boys years ago. He really felt bad for the victims , but he always felt that he was punished for their sins. Today I learned that the Catholic faith does not allow you to keep cremated remains at home. My heart tells me that my husband is at peace , at home in his antique room, and his soul is where it’s supposed to be in heaven. I’ll join him one day. As a person who was baptized in the Catholic faith and raised a Catholic , I’m at peace with the way things are. I know in my heart I did the right thing .
I forgot the term that the Catholics were using. It’s like “the Church” is the supreme authority that can interpret the word of God. I respect everyone’s belief, but since the Catholic Church is composed of people with all their imperfections, for me, their interpretation may change or might be flawed too.
What is important now is that at least cremation is allowed. And I think we have no choice anyway especially if someone died of Covid.
We have to remember that “resurrection” is all about the body, and not the soul because the soul does not die. It is only that which is dead can be resurrected. That is what we profess in the Creed: “the resurrection of the body.”
Since, the Church makes certain exceptions for cremation, then ,at least, the cremated remains should be buried. The word of God requires a burial. See Ezekiel 37:12-14.
What do you do when the deceased request were to be cremated and they want their ashes at home to be prayed over and want to be buried together with the remaining living spouse when the time comes? How can the Church’s doctrine overrule a person’s final request?
By all means you do what you want. You were his wife, do not let anyone steer you in the opposite direction you most want. It is your late husband’s request and up to you to finalize his last wishes. God bless you and your family given the the ability to satisfy your every wish. I commend you.
Thank You all! For your stories of sorrow, anguish, comfort, and anger. We have lived through all of this with the passing of our beloved sister. Her husband had her cremated and her remains scattered over a stinking vacation lake. No memorial, no gathering, no Mass, no grave site to visit and pray. We found out 4 months after the fact. Our sorrow is profound. I appreciate the Catholic Church trying to make accomaditations; but cremations should be banned right along with abortion.
Sorry Ramondo but your comment is nonsense.
Presumably your sister’s husband isn’t Catholic so it would have made no difference in your case. And if your sister had asked for this under the belief that Catholic teaching allowed then she was wrong as her ashes were scattered and that is not allowed. Incidentally my wife and my mother were apparently planning on throwing my ashes (after Mass) on a “vacation lake” should for any reason I predecease them and I pointed out that this was not allowed. For differing reasons they should both know far better than the “average Catholic” but didn’t so if your sister didn’t know then perhaps that’s not unreasonable.
Up to know you have my sympathy but I am afraid you lose it totally by comparing cremation to abortion.
Cremation is the burning of a dead, unfeeling body after life and usually at its owners request. How that can possibly be compared to abortion is beyond me.
Joseph, Ireland, December 2022′
My understanding as a Massgoing Catholic is as follows. What remains after cremation is exactly the same as what decompositiom leaves in graves, that is, the skeleton bones, albeit in crushed form. Whether coffined in Cemetery Grave or urnined in the Space of a Garden of Remembrance of a Columbarium in a consecrated Cemetery. the main point of visiting the spot is to reflect, to learn from the example of the life of the departed person, and to ask him or her to ask God to help us to gain from what we learn. Joseph, Dublin, Ireland
The idea that buried Catholic believers should be buried so that they can rise up and meet Him in the air is non-sensical because people who were buried thousands of years ago and only generations ago will not have a body to rise up and meet Him because there will be no body left in a tomb or vault below the earth because the body will have been liquified and the liquid even gone. There will be NO BODY, so if Jesus can reconstitute a liquified decomposed body to meet him in the air he can do the same thing to ashes scattered into the earth that have been part of the soil for centuries. He is GOD and our souls will go with him.
Amen.