Cremation and burial

[Kielbasi]

Just buried my father, his cremated remains in a local secular cemetery (Allegheny Cemetery in Lawrenceville).

The family owns just two plots left, my father and mother (still quite alive) are being buried in one (the cemetery allows 2 cremated individuals in a single plot).

I, and my own wife, are penciled in for the final space , although I as well am very much alive at age 50.

Is there any problem with being buried with one’s relatives and going for cremation under the circumstances, to be laid to rest with other family members?

 

[Courtneyjo]

Several of my now departed Catholic family members who wanted cremation are laid to rest in a Catholic cemetary in NY state. The cemetary does allow two urns in one plot, as long as the plot owner has authorized it. It doesn’t have to be husband and wife in a plot, it could be mother and child for example. The key is that it has to be authorized. It is not the traditional Catholic burial, but is becoming more common.

 

[1ke]

The church allows cremation as long as the ashes are interred, you can’t scatter them or keep them on the mantle, etc. So, yes, you should be fine.

 

[didymus]

1ke:

The church allows cremation as long as the ashes are interred, you can’t scatter them or keep them on the mantle, etc. So, yes, you should be fine.

When you say the ashes have to be interred, does that mean they have to be buried in the urn?
I ask because a co-worker told me that her grandmother had been cremated in accordance with her wishes and the ashes buried around the roots of a tree they planted in her memory. I really like the idea – is it kosher (so to speak)?

 

[Courtneyjo]

didymus:

When you say the ashes have to be interred, does that mean they have to be buried in the urn?
I ask because a co-worker told me that her grandmother had been cremated in accordance with her wishes and the ashes buried around the roots of a tree they planted in her memory. I really like the idea – is it kosher (so to speak)?

I don’t have the Canon law citation, but this isn’t allowed for Catholics because it shows disrespect for the body. Burying around tree roots could be misinterpreted as nature woship. In addition, it will be difficult to pray at the lady’s grave especially once the property is sold and “tree access” is no longer available.

The ashes must be interred in an urn. Cemetaries have strict regulations about this. They also sell urns. For some of these a vault must be installed in the ground as well, for a few of them no vault is required.

It was very troubling when John F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife were buied at sea. There must have been a pastoral reason for it, but it gave the wrong impression of what the Church teaches about burial.

 

[Joe_Kelley]

Courtneyjo:

. . .
It was very troubling when John F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife were buied at sea. There must have been a pastoral reason for it, but it gave the wrong impression of what the Church teaches about burial.

I think that ashes may be buried at sea just as a body may be buried at sea. However the ashes should be in a container; not scattered on the water.

 

[Gerry_Hunter]

Joe Kelley:

I think that ashes may be buried at sea just as a body may be buried at sea. However the ashes should be in a container; not scattered on the water.

Perhaps in the USA, but in Canada, burial at sea is NOT normally permitted (except, presumably, when death at sea leaves no other choice). And we can’t scatter ashes, or dump them in the sea, urn or no urn.

Blessings,

Gerry

 

[manilaman]

In the Philippines, CREMATION is slowly becoming accepted as an alternative to the growing rise in the high cost of the traditional BURIAL rites. The Filipino Catholic Faithful are being taught that CREMATION is acceptable provided however that the cremated Human Remains (cremains) must be interred in a COLUMBARY. To-date, more and more PRIVATE CORPORATIONS, as well as, Catholic Parishes (with the permission of their respective Bishops) are putting up competing Columbaries. Corporate-owned Columbaries are located in private land. Parish-owned Columbaries are normally located beneath the Parish Main Church - or, within the Parish Grounds.

If you are to choose, which Columbary would you prefer - Parochial or Corporate Columbary?

 

[JKirkLVNV]

Courtneyjo:

It was very troubling when John F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife were buied at sea. There must have been a pastoral reason for it, but it gave the wrong impression of what the Church teaches about burial.

I was troubled by this as well, but someone (and I think it was our wise Hagia Sophia here on these forums) said that the cremains had, in fact, been submerged while in an urn.

 

[HagiaSophia]

JKirkLVNV:

I was troubled by this as well, but someone (and I think it was our wise Hagia Sophia here on these forums) said that the cremains had, in fact, been submerged while in an urn.

Here ya go and thanks for the kind words–

What is the Rite of Committal?
The Rite of Committal is the final stage of the
Christian funeral – the moment of last good-
byes and the reverent laying to rest of the
body or cremated remains. Cremation is like
burial: It is the final and reverent disposition
Then why were the ashes of John F.
Kennedy, Jr., and Carolyn Bessette
Kennedy and Lauren Bessette
scattered at sea?
They weren’t. They were buried at sea, in
urns, according to Catholic custom. The
press in some instances was unfamiliar with
Catholic ritual requirements and used the
poetic, and in this case imprecise, term of
scattering the ashes.
stcyril.org/newpews/FebNews2000.pdf

 

[JKirkLVNV]

HagiaSophia:

Here ya go and thanks for the kind words–

What is the Rite of Committal?
The Rite of Committal is the final stage of the
Christian funeral – the moment of last good-
byes and the reverent laying to rest of the
body or cremated remains. Cremation is like
burial: It is the final and reverent disposition
Then why were the ashes of John F.
Kennedy, Jr., and Carolyn Bessette
Kennedy and Lauren Bessette
scattered at sea?
They weren’t. They were buried at sea, in
urns, according to Catholic custom. The
press in some instances was unfamiliar with
Catholic ritual requirements and used the
poetic, and in this case imprecise, term of
scattering the ashes.
stcyril.org/newpews/FebNews2000.pdf

Thanks, Hagia! I plan to be be cremated, but my ashes will be buried in our families plot.

 

[puzzleannie]

didymus:

When you say the ashes have to be interred, does that mean they have to be buried in the urn?
I ask because a co-worker told me that her grandmother had been cremated in accordance with her wishes and the ashes buried around the roots of a tree they planted in her memory. I really like the idea – is it kosher (so to speak)?

my brothers wanted to do this for our parents, who were both cremated, and found it is against the law in their state.