www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology Cremation: Yes or No?

Is Cremation approved of in the Catholic Communion?

I'm not asking whether it is allowed. I believe it is.

My question is whether it is approved of and please can you cite the church document that blesses it or frowns upon it.

We've had some controversy in my parish about it and the priest doesn't seem to know a whole lot about it.

Sorry if this topic has been exhausted explored in another thread - it so, can you please refer me (esp. to the authoritative Church documents) - Thanks.

Herb

Herb:

Christ is in our midst!!

Try catholiceducation.org where you'll find an article about the history of this permission. Actually it's enshrined in the new Code of Canon Law of 1983. Part follows:



Bob

Perfect! thanks!

Source [saintdemetrios.com]

dear AMM:

Also helpful, thank you.

Can you refer me to some officially promulgated document of the Orthodox Church (or specific Nomokanon) that forbids cremation?

At least 2 parishes of the RC diocese of Dallas have erected columbaria on their campuses: St. Joseph's in Richardson and Mary Immaculate in Farmers Branch. I believe St. Joseph's even has a "columbarium ministry"...

I'm not sure where to look. This [saintjohngreekorthodoxchurch.org] article says the canons forbid it though.

If you visit the St. Joseph parish website (http://stjosephcc.net/ you can learn more about the parochial columbarium by clicking on the "facilities" link.

This is rather a segue (so moderators feel free to hive of to its own thread), but...

seems to me (maybe just my limited experience) a lot of the weirdness in dealing with the "remains" of the reposed/dead have begun with the Latins Church's allowing of cremation.

(and once done in the Latin, it's hard for it not to leech into the Byzantine Cath. Churches)

I'm not sure that the Latin hierarchy foresaw that it was to become the gateway for freezing, "acidizing", jewelry-izing, mantelpiece-izing, park-bench-izing, burying different bits in different locations, etc. etc. of one's mortal remains.

I don't know if the Church ever had to deal with these requests/problems before the advent of cremation.

The Newark New Jersey Roman Catholic Archdiocese has a magnificent columbarium at its Gate of Heaven Cemetery, East Hanover NJ.

This seems strange. Is it common to have the remains cremated before the funeral? I have only ever experienced funeral services with cremation afterwards.

LC:

Christ is in our midst!!

I've been doing this type of thing for about 30 years when asked.

Bob

Herb:

Christ is in our midst!!

Actually the Church has some very specific things to say about this--each diocese has guidelines, but they all seem to have a similar thread. Cremains are to be treated with the same respect as the body. They are to be kept in a suitable vessel--which means don't bring the cardboard box/temporary urn from the crematory to church. The vessel is to be buried in consecrated ground at the end of the funeral services.

That being said, no one bothers to teach any of this prior to death, so, like the Church's teaching on birth control, it is observed more in the breach than in the practice.

And some clergy think I should be the one to be the Church's "enforcer." Once advising a family about what the Church wants done, I ask them what they want done and do it. Otherwise I risk the loss of my license to practice.

Oh, I've had all the requests. One man wanted to have me send his mother's cremains away so she could be a pinkie ring. Or the people who wanted to send the cremains away to a company that mixes them with pottery grade clay and sends them back as either a set of dishes or a set of coffee mugs. Or the people who make lockets so you can carry them with you at all times. Or the man who made an end table for his den so he could have his parents continue to watch football with him--glass fronted to protect the urns.

I think beyond all this is the fact that respect for others--almost lost in the culture--translates into this sort of caring for the dead. I don't know, but the differences in attitude also seem to me to reflect the fact that most people have very little contact with any formal religious group and very little idea about what happens after death. The idea that the body is some worthless, sinful "shell" seems to have become secularized to the extent that it is just seomthing to dsipose of.

Bob

Was cremation always allowed?

Only since Vatican II.