"Buried" in glass

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I recently went to a memorial service where the deceased’s ashes had been placed in a glass furnace, and then fashioned into a piece of art glass. Actually, a few pieces of glass.

What would the Church’s stance be on this?

Thanks for your insight!
 
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Whatever they’ve done to the deceased here, he ought to be buried. The Church doesn’t allow displaying of ashes (or I presume ash-made-art), scattering ashes, etc.
 
jwan said:
I recently went to a memorial service where the deceased’s ashes had been placed in a glass furnace, and then fashioned into a piece of art glass. Actually, a few pieces of glass.

What would the Church’s stance be on this?

Thanks for your insight!
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That is absolutely NOT PERMITTED by the Church.
 
Expand upon your third sentence. Are you claiming that the Church allows scattering of ashes over water?

ICXC NIKA
 
Burial for cremated remains in lakes and oceans is not permitted. From the linked article:

"7. In order that every appearance of pantheism, naturalism or nihilism be avoided, it is not permitted to scatter the ashes of the faithful departed in the air, on land, at sea or in some other way, nor may they be preserved in mementos, pieces of jewelry or other objects. These courses of action cannot be legitimized by an appeal to the sanitary, social, or economic motives that may have occasioned the choice of cremation."
 
I don’t think this is permitted by the Church.
Burials are preferred; cremation is okay but don’t scatter ashes.
 
GEddie said:
Are you claiming that the Church allows scattering of ashes over water?
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No, he was not claiming such. The Church permits the ashes to be buried at sea.
TenEleven said:
Burial for cremated remains in lakes and oceans is not permitted.
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Not scattered. Buried at the bottom of the sea. Burial at sea is allowed.
 
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The church teaches:

Respect for the dead

2299 The dying should be given attention and care to help them live their last moments in dignity and peace. They will be helped by the prayer of their relatives, who must see to it that the sick receive at the proper time the sacraments that prepare them to meet the living God.

2300 The bodies of the dead must be treated with respect and charity, in faith and hope of the Resurrection. The burial of the dead is a corporal work of mercy;92 it honors the children of God, who are temples of the Holy Spirit.

2301 Autopsies can be morally permitted for legal inquests or scientific research. The free gift of organs after death is legitimate and can be meritorious.

The Church permits cremation, provided that it does not demonstrate a denial of faith in the resurrection of the body.93

The Vatican has released this document:

https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2016/10/25/161025c.html

7. In order that every appearance of pantheism, naturalism or nihilism be avoided, it is not permitted to scatter the ashes of the faithful departed in the air, on land, at sea or in some other way, nor may they be preserved in mementos, pieces of jewellery or other objects. These courses of action cannot be legitimised by an appeal to the sanitary, social, or economic motives that may have occasioned the choice of cremation.
 
TheLittleLady said:
Ashes are inert, they carry no diseases, virus, etc.
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Typically the temperature for cremation is 1400 F or above. That’s sterilized and beyond.
It isn’t about hygiene. It is about respect for the body of the deceased.
 
I once read that, according to an undertaker, this cannot be avoided. Even if they sweep out the retort after the cremation and removal of the ashes, there will always be tiny traces of someone else’s ashes remaining. They advised that if someone has a difficulty with accepting this, then they should not arrange to be cremated.

I prefer the Jewish and Muslim concept of allowing the body to return to the elements naturally, with no embalming or other preservation — “green burial”, if you will. Jews use a plain wooden casket and Muslims use a burial shroud. I would prefer this for myself, but due to family sensibilities, I have had to consent to the kind of treatment and burial that is most common in North America.
 
How would that be any different than the mixing of remains that occurs when bodies are buried in common or reused graves? Until quite recently, most people in Europe were buried in common or reused graves.

Individual graves were only for those who could afford them, and even then, you were dug up after a while and your bones were thrown together with other bones in the charnel house. Individual permanent graves were for filthy rich nobles only.
 
jwan said:
ashes had been placed in a glass furnace, and then fashioned into a piece of art glass.
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I can’t speak for the church but I would find that rather creepy. My mom’s ashes sat in an “urn” (really just a fancy carved wooden box) in the corner of my living room for years before the family decided to do something about them. But we couldn’t see them and the box soon blended in with the rest of the shelf.

Dad’s were another story altogether. He wanted them scattered at the lake, which one brother, one sister and I did many years ago. With the movement of removing the screws from the bottom of the box I could hear solids moving around against the wood inside. “Probably his dental fillings”, my sister said. Opening up the box in which his ashes resided (inside a plastic bag) we found an identifying card with his name on it. The other side of the card showed it had been a cardboard label for pantyhose. We all laughed and knew dad would have as well. Then we scraped a small hollow in the ground on a hillside above the cabin. A few inches down I began unearthing rusted tin cans and old bottles.

We realized some previous owner of the property, and that would have had to have been prior to 1950, used this area as a garbage dump. Well, knowing dad’s books and his sense of humor we laughed at this too and went ahead right where we were. Who knows, maybe one of those mossy whisky bottles had been his? 😁
 
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Very good. Keep in mind that the funeral industry is huge — everything is driven by money at the absolutely least appropriate time to have to be thinking about such things. As for the embalming, many people implicitly want to retain the fiction in their minds that the deceased has been perfectly restored and will remain exactly like that forever. A little investigation will prove that this simply doesn’t happen.

We would be much better off not doing anything to hold back the return of the body to nature, and just accepting that we ultimately return to dust. People in many (if not most) parts of the world approach death this way, and it does no harm to anyone. Death and its natural consequences are just accepted.
 
I find this horrifying! My mother was cremated and her ashes were interred properly (so I’m not going to debate cremation). But the thought of doing something like this with her ashes… I just can’t…
 
I came across this interesting article from last May: Some Catholic cemeteries in Minnesota recently began offering “green,” or natural burials, without embalming and either without a casket (shroud only) or with a simple wood or wicker casket. I hope this option becomes more widespread. This would allow more people to choose a full body burial, which many cannot at this time because of the outrageous expense of the typical embalming and elaborate coffin.
Catholic Cemeteries to offer natural burial option starting in fall
 
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I don’t even care for cremation, let alone this. Cremation is a no-no in Orthodox Judaism, Islamism, as well as for traditionally minded Catholics.
 
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