Burial of Cremated Remains

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lakotak

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I hope I have this in the right forum, if not please feel free to move it.

My question is: Probably a stupid one, but if my friends remains are put in an above ground niche, according to the Catholic guidelines is she properly buried.

I am not familiar with this area concerning cremation. Everyone in my family had their bodies buried.

Any help would be appreciated.
 
Two Catholic cemeteries in my area have mausoleums for the above-ground interment of both coffins and cremated remains - I believe the specific name is a columbarium.
 
lakotak said:
I hope I have this in the right forum, if not please feel free to move it.

My question is: Probably a stupid one, but if my friends remains are put in an above ground niche, according to the Catholic guidelines is she properly buried.

I am not familiar with this area concerning cremation. Everyone in my family had their bodies buried.

Any help would be appreciated.
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As long as the place where her remains are put is consecrated, my understanding is that there is no problem. Columbaria/mausolea are frequently used for holding cremains and/or multiple coffins.
 
With respect to the disposition of Human Cremains, the only thing Hoy Mother The Church objects to is their improper or disrespectful disposition, such as having them in an urn on your fireplace mantle, or buried in your back yard. or a pet cemetery.
However, apart from burial at sea, the Church does require that bodies and cremains be buried in Consecrated Ground…which means a Catholic Cemetery or the Catholic Consecrated section of a US Veterans Cemetery.
 
George_Stegmeir said:
With respect to the disposition of Human Cremains, the only thing Hoy Mother The Church objects to is their improper or disrespectful disposition, such as having them in an urn on your fireplace mantle, or buried in your back yard. or a pet cemetery.
However, apart from burial at sea, the Church does require that bodies and cremains be buried in Consecrated Ground…which means a Catholic Cemetery or the Catholic Consecrated section of a US Veterans Cemetery.
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I wish I had known about the Church requirement that bodies be buried in a Catholic Cemetery. I didn’t know this or even the thought cross my mind when I buried my grandmother and my mother. I gave them everything Catholic, except that. This was just something that was never known. Mom got the plots for herself and her mother for a very low price at a large cemetery, long before their deaths.

If my friend’s remains are to be buried by her son, I am encouraging him to look for a Catholic cemetery.

Thanks for all of your information.
 
George_Stegmeir said:
With respect to the disposition of Human Cremains, the only thing Hoy Mother The Church objects to is their improper or disrespectful disposition, such as having them in an urn on your fireplace mantle, or buried in your back yard. or a pet cemetery.
However, apart from burial at sea, the Church does require that bodies and cremains be buried in Consecrated Ground…which means a Catholic Cemetery or the Catholic Consecrated section of a US Veterans Cemetery.
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There are many areas lacking a Catholic cemetery. I thought the requirement for “consecrated ground” could be met by the blessing of a grave in a non-denominational or public cemetery.
 
Tarpeian_Rock said:
There are many areas lacking a Catholic cemetery. I thought the requirement for “consecrated ground” could be met by the blessing of a grave in a non-denominational or public cemetery.
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I know their graves were blessed because the priests were present with other people at the grave site. Since their grave sites were blessed , but not in a Catholic Cemetery, does this constitute consecrated ground? I hope someone can answer this question, hopefully put my mind at easy.
 
George_Stegmeir said:
With respect to the disposition of Human Cremains, the only thing Hoy Mother The Church objects to is their improper or disrespectful disposition, such as having them in an urn on your fireplace mantle, or buried in your back yard. or a pet cemetery.
However, apart from burial at sea, the Church does require that bodies and cremains be buried in Consecrated Ground…which means a Catholic Cemetery or the Catholic Consecrated section of a US Veterans Cemetery.
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It is permissible for the remains to be placed in an urn in an above ground columbarium. Also, a body may be placed in an above ground mausoleum. Burial in the ground is not required. Here is a reference:

cdow.org/catholic-diocese-of-wilmington-offices-and-ministries/catholic-cemeteries/catholic-cemeteries-catholics-and-cremation/

We have a number of Catholic cemeteries around here, and they all have mausoleums.
Cremation is becoming more and more common.
 
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lakotak:
I wish I had known about the Church requirement that bodies be buried in a Catholic Cemetery. I didn’t know this or even the thought cross my mind when I buried my grandmother and my mother. I gave them everything Catholic, except that. This was just something that was never known. Mom got the plots for herself and her mother for a very low price at a large cemetery, long before their deaths.

If my friend’s remains are to be buried by her son, I am encouraging him to look for a Catholic cemetery.

Thanks for all of your information.

No, it’s not necessary that it be a Catholic cemetery. You may choose a secular or public cemetery even out of sheer preference, in which case, the grave should be individually blessed.
 
porthos11 said:
No, it’s not necessary that it be a Catholic cemetery. You may choose a secular or public cemetery even out of sheer preference, in which case, the grave should be individually blessed.
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My Grandmother and Mother’s grave sites were blessed by priests. This was all I thought that was required.
 
Tarpeian_Rock said:
There are many areas lacking a Catholic cemetery. I thought the requirement for “consecrated ground” could be met by the blessing of a grave in a non-denominational or public cemetery.
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It definitely can. The next town over from us has a Town Cemetery. Graves of Catholics buried there are blessed at the time of burial. The Bishop tried to get the same arrangement in our town but our town didn’t want to assume responsibility for what is, in effect, a large multi-denominational cemetery where each Church/denomination has it’s own section.
 
porthos11 said:
Exactly. If the cemetery is not Catholic, then it suffices for the graves themselves to be individually blessed.
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Thank you for this information. At least, I can have a little peace of mind that all was done as it should have been.
 
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