Cremains Quandary

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I don’t understand why you do not propose to your mother they be buried? You mentioned the place in Michigan, instead of spreading them their, find a secluded spot and bury them… it’s by no means an ideal situation,but I believe remains can be buried anywhere under Church law. If I am wrong, I hope someone corrects me.
 
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You are absolutely WRONG!!!

The church requires that a person be buried in the ground, columbarium or tomb, and that the final resting place is marked with the person’s name, the same name with which the person was baptized and by which the person is called by God.
 
It also must be HOLY ground! Another words one can’t just dig a hole at your local playground and place the urn in the hole.
 
I am pretty sure that Holy ground is not an absolute requirement. But one should be able to get a priest to bless the ground. I am not saying this lightly, but the OP seems to be in a quandry,. Buying a spot in the a columbarium is difficult.
 
I take back my previous advice. The following canons do not seem as absolute as you claim, and it is already too late to follow them perfectly, so more consultation with a priest us needed.

Can. 1176 §1. Deceased members of the Christian faithful must be given ecclesiastical funerals according to the norm of law.

§2. Ecclesiastical funerals, by which the Church seeks spiritual support for the deceased, honors their bodies, and at the same time brings the solace of hope to the living, must be celebrated according to the norm of the liturgical laws.

§3. The Church earnestly recommends that the pious custom of burying the bodies of the deceased be observed; nevertheless, the Church does not prohibit cremation unless it was chosen for reasons contrary to Christian doctrine.

Can. 1180 §1. If a parish has its own cemetery, the deceased members of the faithful must be buried in it unless the deceased or those competent to take care of the burial of the deceased have chosen another cemetery legitimately.§2. Everyone, however, is permitted to choose the cemetery of burial unless prohibited by law.
 
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I found nothing in canon law which states holy ground is an absolute requirement, or that the grave must be marked. Nite, I consider these very important.

If course the parish cemetery would be holy ground, and that is certainly the preference under canon law.

Their may be other documents that provide other Church regulations beyond canon law.
 
Can 1180 .§2. Everyone, however, is permitted to CHOOSE THE CEMETERY of burial unless prohibited by law.

Maybe I shouldn’t have used the word “holy ground” but rather the church does require burial in consecrated grounds.
 
It does not. The poster may have heard a cultural practice, however, this is not Church law. They Church does not bind people to expenses.
 
You really need to stop speaking without knowing what you’re talking about, especially if it’s going to come off in this kind of blunt and uncharitable manner.

@camoderator
 
That is not necessarily true!
Some churches do charge.
Depends where one lives and
what the custom of the area is.
 
I agree. While in theory one is forced to pay the parish for a *funeral, a baptism or a weeding the parish absolutely need the money in order to survive.

Where I lived, the price of a funeral is INCLUDED automatically in the price the family paid for all the burial process to the funeral directors business they hired. After the businesss paid the parish.
And the cost of a death is so heavy that what is paid to the Church is not noticed anyway.
 
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Some cemeteries have a columbarium where you can get a small niche and they usually also have a selection of urns to choose from. I have no comment about whether you should or shouldn’t do as your dad and mom wanted in this. However, just know that a columbarium is an option.
 
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I have never heard of a parish charging for a funeral mass. That is really bad.
 
In Massachusetts it is $150.
Possibly many people are unaware because the funeral home builds it into the cost of the funeral. The funeral home pays it to the church on your behalf. If there is a reception on the church grounds the funeral home will also pay the church for the sexton cleaning it up.
 
My parish asks for a donation of $400 for a funeral Mass. this covers the expense of opening the church for Mass, the organist, the cantor, the altar servers and the luncheon after the burial. If someone can not pay that amount or any amount at all, of course the funeral Mass and luncheon will still be held but the parish has to absorb the cost. There is nothing unreasonable in asking for a donation.
 
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