CDF issues instruction on cremation, affirms Church’s strong preference for burial

  • Thread starter Thread starter _Abyssinia
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
Usige said:
Heck, I knew you couldn’t scatter ashes before I became Catholic. I am constantly surprised when faithful Catholics are truly unaware that contraception, scattering ashes, skipping mass and a host of other things are opposed to the faith. Before becoming Catholic I was aware of these things so I don’t know how some many are truly unaware of some fairly major teachings of the Church. 🤷
Click to expand...
But there will be people who will tell you that those things are somehow ok because it’s only Catholics on CAF who heed the teachings.
 
Usige said:
Heck, I knew you couldn’t scatter ashes before I became Catholic. I am constantly surprised when faithful Catholics are truly unaware that contraception, scattering ashes, skipping mass and a host of other things are opposed to the faith. Before becoming Catholic I was aware of these things so I don’t know how some many are truly unaware of some fairly major teachings of the Church. 🤷
Click to expand...
There are a few Catholics out there who have not learned any Catholicism since they were confirmed. The quality of their understanding of the truths of the faith are entirely dependent on the quality of the CCD program they attended as children. Rumor has it that not all of these CCD programs were worthy of international acclaim for their completeness and fidelity.
 
Paganus said:
There are a few Catholics out there who have not learned any Catholicism since they were confirmed. The quality of their understanding of the truths of the faith are entirely dependent on the quality of the CCD program they attended as children. Rumor has it that not all of these CCD programs were worthy of international acclaim for their completeness and fidelity.
Click to expand...
I get that, but still trying to figure out how I, as an agnostic at the time, picked up more Catholic teaching then those in the Church. I wasn’t actively seeking it out so it just seems odd to me that I could pick it up from secular sources and they couldn’t. It’s part of why we make sure we teach our kids the faith instead of just relying on who ever the parish can get to volunteer that year.
DeniseNY said:
But there will be people who will tell you that those things are somehow ok because it’s only Catholics on CAF who heed the teachings.
Click to expand...
That a sad truth. They have bought into a form of protestant moral relativism where sin is based on violating social norms rather than on the offense given to God. It speaks to an idea that somehow God is moved by societal norms.

I always get a chuckle wondering if people think God ditched his blackberry for an iPhone because it was what the cool kids did. We all know that God prefers to write on stone tablets and would never switch to IM or WhatsApp. :rotfl:
 
Okay, new question. An ex-Catholic friend of mine has been ranting about the unfairness of it all, and although I’ve been able to definitively debunk most of the absurd things he’s said there’s one I’m still working on. He thinks that the Church forbids burial at sea. I know it’s nonsense, and I’ve found references to specific provisions for it in the Order of Christian Funerals (specifically, OCF 316 and 405), but I can’t find the text online. Does anyone know of a link to the full text, or have the willingness to quote it here?

Thanks in advance.
 
neophyte said:
Okay, new question. An ex-Catholic friend of mine has been ranting about the unfairness of it all, and although I’ve been able to definitively debunk most of the absurd things he’s said there’s one I’m still working on. He thinks that the Church forbids burial at sea. I know it’s nonsense, and I’ve found references to specific provisions for it in the Order of Christian Funerals (specifically, OCF 316 and 405), but I can’t find the text online. Does anyone know of a link to the full text, or have the willingness to quote it here?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Hello,

N. 316 merely mentions the possibility of burial at sea and which texts can be used. Number *406 *includes a prayer to be used on such an occasion: “Lord God, by the power of your Word you stilled the chaos of the primeval seas,… As we commit the body of our brother/sister to the deep, grant him/her peace and tranquility…”

Dan
 
neophyte said:
Okay, new question. An ex-Catholic friend of mine has been ranting about the unfairness of it all, and although I’ve been able to definitively debunk most of the absurd things he’s said there’s one I’m still working on. He thinks that the Church forbids burial at sea. I know it’s nonsense, and I’ve found references to specific provisions for it in the Order of Christian Funerals (specifically, OCF 316 and 405), but I can’t find the text online. Does anyone know of a link to the full text, or have the willingness to quote it here?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Part of it depends on what he means by “burial at sea”. As Dan has pointed out, the OCF has a prayer of commital specifically for sea burials, so it is obviously allowed. The key is that it must be a burial and not scattering on the waters. If the deceased is cremated, their remains must be committed to the sea in a worthy container that is heavy enough to sink. I have not been able to find a definitive answer if biodegradable urns are allowed, but since they are designed to scatter the ashes within days or weeks, they would seem to be contrary to the idea of the cremains remaining together.
 
dans0622 said:
Hello,

N. 316 merely mentions the possibility of burial at sea and which texts can be used. Number *406 *includes a prayer to be used on such an occasion: “Lord God, by the power of your Word you stilled the chaos of the primeval seas,… As we commit the body of our brother/sister to the deep, grant him/her peace and tranquility…”

Dan
Click to expand...
Thanks again.
 
Very conflicted about the prohibition on scattering of ashes. Mostly for earthly reasons. Requiring burial or placeing cremation urns in niches is related to expense. The cheapest cremation to urn niche in the Dallas, Texas area is upwards of $8K and up. This forces an undue burden upon the poor or low income families.

The funeral industry has state and local laws that force using it’s services. Seems like the church is in lockstep, though for theological reasons. Disappointed.
 
I wrote a blog post on cremation and how it conflicts with the Theology of the Body. Interestingly, according to the National Funeral Directors Association’s 2015 “Cremation and Burial Report,” cremation was the “method of disposition” for 32.3% of deaths in 2005. This number rose to 40.4% by 2010 and 45.4% in 2013. It is projected that 71.0% of Americans will choose cremation by 2030.

I think cremation represents no less than the rejection, i.e. “burning”, of some of the Church’s most important teachings: the Theology of the Body; the Imago Dei, that we are created in the “image of God”; our bodies as Temples of the Holy Spirit; and, perhaps most directly, the Resurrection of the Body.
 
Well, I’ve signed up for cremation and internment in a niche in a Catholic cemetery, and it certainly is not out of rejection of any of the Church’s teachings. She teaches that God is able to create a new spiritual body for us at the resurrection, so the old one won’t be necessary.
It’s because I prefer my money to go to my children, if any is left, rather than to enrich the funeral business. I’m always up for a bargain.

.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top