Can Cremated ashes be scattered?

[davidwayne]

My wife and a I are both Catholic, however we have family members that are not. My wife’s mother, who is no longer Catholic, wishes to be cremated when she dies and wants her ashes scattered. I also had a sister that passed away in '06, she was not Catholic at the time of her passing. Her sons have her ashes in an urn with plans to scatter them. We understand that the Church teaches that ashes should be buried in a consecrated cemetery or mausoleum. Our question is, other than the Church saying that scattering ashes is wrong, how do we tell the family “why” it’s wrong? Are there resources or Bible verses we can go to?
God Bless

 

[Devon_Caffran]

This link should be give you the answer you need. If you have any further questions or concerns that are not answered by this link, please [contact Catholic Answers (http://www.catholic.com/home/contact.asp) directly.
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• Can a Catholic promise to scatter the ashes of a non-Catholic?