Atheist Funeral?

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BridgetN said:
That must have been an after Vatican II teaching. Personally, I support only Traditional teachings.
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It is not a doctrinal teaching. It never was. It was a disciplinary law of the church. Laws of the church can change, and do change as the times change.
 
I’ve been to the memorial Mass of somebody who was baptized Catholic, fell away and spent the rest of their life toggling between atheism, agnostic, deist and occasionally attending church even doing a Marian pilgrimage.
They had a great deal of baggage with a great many spiritual wounds, some of them of their own doing .
But they were good friends with a priest who did a memorial mass at the request of a family member who was a believer.
 
It was my understanding that the difference between a funeral and a memorial service is that the first one has a body present and the second one does not?
 
Okay, I’ll put it this way, I only follow pre-Vatican II laws, counsels, dogmas, and the like. I’m totally Traditional.
 
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cremation, if done to deny the resurrection of the body, is not allowed. but a cremation done because it’s expensive to have a plot of land and a casket is permitted.
 
BridgetN said:
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Magart:
Many Catholic cemeteries have a columbarium which holds the cremation remains.
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That doesn’t mean cremation is ok. It could be a Novus Ordo cemetary
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The fact is that the Catholic Church does not espouse the belief that cremation is only permitted under extreme circumstances. Not at all.

You are entitled to stick to your own beliefs, but giving someone else misinformation is patently unfair.

The current CCC stands.

You can say, “The CCC states X, but I choose to follow the pre-V2 teaching that says Y.” That’s fair, and would be interesting for us to know who aren’t as familiar with pre-V2 as you are. In fact, posts like that would be fantastic in my book.
 
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I will add that that explains to me personally why my dad, a cradle Catholic who would be 87 if we were blessed to still have him here, was totally against cremation. I never asked him.

That’s why I like hearing from the “traditionals”. It explains a lot about my dad’s faith to me.

Back to the thread…
 
One thing I never understood about that ideology: if God is truly all powerful, and can resurrect our bodies, then why does it matter if they are reduced to ash or not before. When a body decays what was once part of it is used by other animals, plants, microbes, and a host of other things. Resurrecting such a body would be like IKEA furniture… some assembly required.
 
I think there was different feeling about cremation. I think people associated it more with non-Christian countries or practices.
I remember in my RCIA class this topic came up. The priest (to my surprise) expressed disappointment, almost disgust, that people weren’t willing to pay for a traditional funeral, casket, etc. In retrospect I kind of agree with him, because I think it’s still more respectful to treat a body in the traditional practice of a “Christian burial”. To me, cremation is almost too utilitarian. Having said that, both my parents preferred to be (and were) cremated. I know sometimes cost is a real issue for people too.
Also, cremation prior to Vatican II was absolutely forbidden. Just another thing I don’t get about Vatican II…
 
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We didn’t even have to pay for a vault, a stone, a burial plot, or a priest when my dad was buried in Arlington with full military honors.

We paid $1200 to transport him from Raleigh, NC to Arlington, VA. Half of that was permits to transport remains over state lines. Good grief.

His funeral was $8000 back in 2005. We had no service and two days of visitation in the funeral home. We did not buy an elaborate casket - we couldn’t afford one. We had basically no flowers. My dad had the nicest service my mom could afford and probably the simplest.

That priest could ante up if he thinks folks shouldn’t cremate to save money. I think no one should go broke burying a family member. The fact that people do is horrid to me.
 
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I like you - Pup7 - and that’s a great share !

Not to sound off - but millions of illegals - pouring into America -
then you see a vet - with a tough funeral - that - gets me.
 
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My favorite non-Christian funeral
 
My friend wanted this type of funeral -
just a raft - his motorcycle - him - even the lake was picked out.
Douse everything with gasoline and set him adrift -
a tough motorcycle dude - honorable - had a sword - rough pals too -
 
Seeksadvice said:
One thing I never understood about that ideology: if God is truly all powerful, and can resurrect our bodies, then why does it matter if they are reduced to ash or not before. When a body decays what was once part of it is used by other animals, plants, microbes, and a host of other things. Resurrecting such a body would be like IKEA furniture… some assembly required.
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God can raise the cremated. The difference is why cremation is done. In the past some people have done cremation in snarky “try ressurecting this” kind of way. Others in a “now the spirit is freed from the body for eternity” kind of way. And other contra-Catholic ideals. So it’s not the cremation itself, but the reason behind the cremation.
 
Seeksadvice said:
One thing I never understood about that ideology: if God is truly all powerful, and can resurrect our bodies, then why does it matter if they are reduced to ash or not before.
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The Church did not prohibit cremation because of theological reason. It was a disciplinary measure due to early Christian bodies being mutilated and due to pagans destroying the body in opposition to the faith. It was to prevent scandal and confusion. Not because there is anything inherently wrong with cremation.

Burial is the fullest sign of our hope in Christ— after all he was buried in the tomb. But certainly we all turn to dust and God will resurrect us on the last day.
 
Cremation doesn’t automatically imply the person will not be buried. I think the issue with the Church is to have the remains “all in one place”, so to speak, rather than say, scattering the ashes to the wind on top of a mountain.

Cremation is not any more “pagan” than burying the deceased in a casket.
 
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