Cemetary question

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DaveBj

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My wife (BonnieBj) wanted to post this question, but I’m hogging the phone line 😛 , so I’ll post it for her.

She read in the book Catholic Replies that Catholics must be buried in a Catholic cemetary, if there is one available. Is this true?

DaveBj
 
Not true at all. I have a number of Catholic relatives buried in Allegheny Cemetery here in Pittsburgh, where there are plenty of Catholic cemeteries available.
 
Code of Canon Law, canon 1180:
“§1 If a parish has its own cemetery, the deceased faithful are to be buried there, unless another cemetery has lawfully been chosen by the deceased person, or by those in charge of that person’s burial.
§2 All may, however, choose their cemetery of burial unless prohibited by law from doing so.”
(The Code of Canon Law: New Revised English Translation, HarperCollins Liturgical, 1997, ISBN 0-00-599375-X.)
 
What is important is to have the rites of the Holy Church celebrated for the repose of the soul. This is a right which all Catholics who have not proved themselves publicly unworthy are entitled to. It may also be permitted for non-Catholic Christians who are separated from the Church in good faith (these do not automatically get the right, as the local (arch)bishop is competent to judge this), and catechumens are entitled to it as those who already belong to the Church, but not necessarily those who are pre-catechumens (inquirers).

Children who died before baptism, and whose parents intended for them to be baptized, may, at the discretion of the Ordinary, also be buried by the Holy Church.
 
prv said:
What is important is to have the rites of the Holy Church celebrated for the repose of the soul.
:nope: Just found out that a Catholic in good standing ( or bad standing ) being buried in a Catholic cemetary may be sent to the funeral home put into a box and then directly into the ground without the sight of single priest or the whisper of a single prayer or hymn. The key here is that the body goes into an acceptable casket and the hole is in a Catholic cemetary. The End.

Answer to the OP’s question. Yes…Catholics may be buried in a non Catholic cemetary.
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contemplative said:
:nope: Just found out that a Catholic in good standing ( or bad standing ) being buried in a Catholic cemetary may be sent to the funeral home put into a box and then directly into the ground without the sight of single priest or the whisper of a single prayer or hymn. The key here is that the body goes into an acceptable casket and the hole is in a Catholic cemetary. The End.

Answer to the OP’s question. Yes…Catholics may be buried in a non Catholic cemetary.
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WHAT??
 
contemplative said:
oops I forgot something…the grave site must have an appropriate marker.
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what are you talking about?
I have never been to a catholic funeral that did not have a priest present to say a prayer, blessing etc.
 
Karin said:
what are you talking about?
I have never been to a catholic funeral that did not have a priest present to say a prayer, blessing etc.
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I did my homework recently. I can die…be shipped to a funeral home…choose to be embalmed or not…depending on whether I want a wake…and then go directly into a plot in a Catholic cemetary. An appropriate casket and marker are necessary.
Bing Bang Boom
No priest, no Mass, no formal prayers
 
contemplative said:
I did my homework recently. I can die…be shipped to a funeral home…choose to be embalmed or not…depending on whether I want a wake…and then go directly into a plot in a Catholic cemetary. An appropriate casket and marker are necessary.
Bing Bang Boom
No priest, no Mass, no formal prayers
Click to expand...
why wouldnt you want a mass or prayers?
 
contemplative said:
I did my homework recently. I can die…be shipped to a funeral home…choose to be embalmed or not…depending on whether I want a wake…and then go directly into a plot in a Catholic cemetary. An appropriate casket and marker are necessary.
Bing Bang Boom
No priest, no Mass, no formal prayers
Click to expand...
Would this be for someone who dies without any family to see about the burial.
 
contemplative said:
but not necessary according to the Church…
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true…while not required wouldnt a blessing or prayer at graveside be “nice”?

But to each their own.

Just found this…are you sure contemplative of what you have found out???
In accordance with Catholic teaching, the funeral service for a Catholic consists of bringing the body of the deceased to the Church, the celebration there of Mass, followed by interment, preferably in the consecrated ground of a Catholic cemetery
stpaulparish.ca/catholic-funerals-burials.php
 
**Order of Christian Funerals

An Overview of the Rites **

The Greatest Event
The event unique to our Christian faith is the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. We first enter into this mystery in Baptism, when we die to our old selves and are born anew in Christ. Throughout our
lives we die and rise in various ways, embodying the Paschal Mystery of the Lord. Our bodily death is not an end, but an ultimate passage to eternal life — the greatest event of our lives.

The Church celebrates the Christian life in her daughters and sons through rich signs and symbols in prayer and sacraments. These rituals express our beliefs. This is especially evident in the Order of
Christian Funerals — the rites for the passage of believers from death to eternal life.

By means of the funeral rites it has been the practice of the Church, as a tender mother, not simply to commend the dead to God but also to raise high the hope of its children and to give witness to its own faith in the future Resurrection of the baptized with Christ.
— Decree for the Order of Funerals, Congregation for Divine Worship, The Vatican: Rome, 1969

The Order of Christian Funerals provides three major liturgical celebrations and prayer moments. Please click to read —

http://www.cemeteries.org/images/bullet.gif The Vigil - Part I
http://www.cemeteries.org/images/bullet.gif The Mass of Christian Burial - Part II
http://www.cemeteries.org/images/bullet.gif The Rite of Committal - Part III

Through the prayers and rituals, the community faithfully accompanies a believer from the moment of death to a final resting place. Ever prayerfully, the community also supports the bereaved through the early stages of the grieving process.

Acceptance & Creed & Journey
The celebration of the funeral rites expresses an acceptance, a creed and a journey. The rites accept human mortality & death in the midst of life, ultimately one’s own death. We let go, handing our dead and ourselves over to God.
The rites also declare our creed & our faith in Christ, the Risen One who put death to death by His dying and rising to new life. We believe Christ’s Resurrection is our inheritance as His disciples.

Finally, the rites comprise a movement — an earthly journey from the place of death to
the funeral home…to the church…to the cemetery.
This journey reminds the faithful of their own journey from grief and sorrow to hope and peace, from loss and sadness to gain and growth.
cemeteries.org/services0019.asp
 
Thanks for the replies.

Background: SU and I are both planning on living and dying as good Catholics and having all the bells and smells for the funeral, but we had been planning on being buried in the little country church cemetary where many of my relatives (including my parents are buried. That’s why she was concerned when she read that.

DaveBj
 
contemplative said:
prv;1641638:
What is important is to have the rites of the Holy Church celebrated for the repose of the soul.
:nope: Just found out that a Catholic in good standing ( or bad standing ) being buried in a Catholic cemetary may be sent to the funeral home put into a box and then directly into the ground without the sight of single priest or the whisper of a single prayer or hymn. The key here is that the body goes into an acceptable casket and the hole is in a Catholic cemetary. The End.

Answer to the OP’s question. Yes…Catholics may be buried in a non Catholic cemetary.
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If that is the way it is done, it is most certainly not the way it should be.

Code of Canon Law

Can. 1176 ß1 Christ’s faithful who have died are to be given a Church funeral according to the norms of law.

It is possible, of course, that this may be necessary during times of pestilence.
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Am concerned about what Canon Law means by “lawful” - lawful in what sense and to whom?

Now that SU (DaveBj) is finished with the phone line I can talk for myself. Also have been sick for several days so is first chance I’ve had to get back on.

We are both devout practicing Catholics. We plan on having a funeral Mass and Catholic burial service. But the big question is: is it OK with the Church if we are buried in the family plot which is in a Methodist church cemetary. We plan to have “Catholic” gravestones, which will witness to our family members (we are the only Catholics). No one in the family will visit our graves if we are in our parish cemetery. I would prefer us to be buried with the rest of the family. But we want everything to be done according to Church norms and “rules.” That si the most important thing. I know that everything else is the same as in any other funeral, i.e. funeral home, viewing, casket, etc. Myself, as a Bendictine Oblate, do have the other alternative of being buried in my monastery cemetery, but my husband does not want to nor can he be buried with me if I choose that. I do plan on a very simple casket, etc., as does my husband. We would rather the money be spent on other things than lavish caskets.
 
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