Cremation and the Church

 DON'T BE BURIED IN ONE OF THESE! PLEASE!

The subject of cremation came up last night at the St. Joseph's parish council meeting. Can Catholics be cremated? Yes...but be careful!

"The new cremation regulation, dated March 21, 1997, was granted by the Holy See as an addition, or indult, to the Order of Christian Funerals. It permits U.S. Latin-rite bishops to decide whether to allow a person's cremated remains at Catholic funeral Masses in their dioceses. The permission is to be granted on a case-by-case basis. It is also clear in the indult that when cremation is chosen, "it is greatly to be preferred that the funeral liturgy take place in the presence of the body of the deceased prior to its cremation." But when cremation has already occurred a bishop can grant permission for a properly sequenced ritual: vigil, then funeral Mass, then committal rite. "

 About the ashes....

" Their final disposition is equally important, say the instructions: "The cremated remains should be buried in a grave or entombed in a mausoleum or columbarium [a cemetery vault designed for urns containing ashes of the dead]. The practice of scattering cremated remains on the sea, from the air, or on the ground, or keeping cremated remains in the home of a relative or friend of the deceased are not the reverent disposition that the Church requires." The instructions also state that, if at all possible, the place of entombment should be marked with a plaque or stone memorializing the deceased."