Cremation

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ealfred said:
Can we as Catholic Cremate the body?
I remember when I was a kid, I asked if cremation was ok for Catholic and I got the answer NO. I never researched the topic before as I’m more interested in other topics in regard to faith. Yesterday for some reason I googled the topic and I read that Yes it is now acceptable for Catholic to do so. Can someone explain? Thanks
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Cremation is a lot less expensive as you can rent your casket if you have a viewing, and it cost less to open a grave to bury a box of cremains. Further, you don’t have to wait for the ground to settle- placing the headstone can be done right away.

The only thing that you miss out on is graveside prayers at the cemetery- but a lot of funerals omit that nowadays. When my aunt passed on a few years ago, they drove the body out to the cemetery and they left the casket in a little chapel in the cemetery for burying later.
 
Zekariya said:
“No, there are no national laws that mandate only cremation. Some local governments, including Tokyo and Osaka, however, have ordinances that require cremation due to lack of cemetery space or for sanitary reasons.”

Source: japantimes.co.jp/news/2012/06/26/reference/cremation-finds-favor-even-with-royal-clan/#.UjojDBZQbBI
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Thank you for posting the link. I have a clearer understanding now. It seems somewhat more complex than just a lack of space although that is a concern in areas with large populations.
 
I will be cremated. I have already purchased my spot in a Catholic Mausoleum in a Catholic Cemetery. My little place in the wall faces the altar and Mass is conducted sometimes in the Mausoleum. I will be around the corner from my grandparents.
 
I too will be cremated and my ashes placed in a church columbarium. Frankly I have always been in fear of burial in the dirt.

If one knew of the horrors of embalming they would never chose to have their bodies embalmed and buried in the dirt. Read THE AMERICAN WAY OF DEATH by Jessica Mitford for a complete description of embalming.

It’s solely about how the body looks for the open-coffin funeral, and I object to the undertakers euphanisms. I call a body a body, not ‘remains’, a coffin a coffin and not a ‘casket, and ashes ashes and not cremains.’
 
andrewstx said:
I too will be cremated and my ashes placed in a church columbarium. Frankly I have always been in fear of burial in the dirt.

If one knew of the horrors of embalming they would never chose to have their bodies embalmed and buried in the dirt. Read THE AMERICAN WAY OF DEATH by Jessica Mitford for a complete description of embalming.
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So don’t embalm. It isn’t required.
It’s solely about how the body looks for the open-coffin funeral, and I object to the undertakers euphanisms. I call a body a body, not ‘remains’, a coffin a coffin and not a ‘casket, and ashes ashes and not cremains.’
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Thanks, but no thanks. When dealing with the death of a loved one, I prefer NOT to refer to my loved one as “the body.”

Burial vs. cremation? I have dealt with both. One parent was cremated and one was placed in a casket and buried. It really came down to personal preference and money.
 
I will be buried. My family know my wishes. I most certainly don’t want to be cremated. I shall also certainly not be embalmed.
 
ealfred said:
Can we as Catholic Cremate the body?
I remember when I was a kid, I asked if cremation was ok for Catholic and I got the answer NO. I never researched the topic before as I’m more interested in other topics in regard to faith. Yesterday for some reason I googled the topic and I read that Yes it is now acceptable for Catholic to do so. Can someone explain? Thanks
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Yes, but burial is far more dignified treatment of the body than what cremation is, but the church catechism allows cremation unless it is a sign of denial of the resurrection.

Personally I would like to get buried becouse its the tradition of all early christians such as the apostles, St Paul, Augustin and so on.
 
i have always wondered about cremations, it was after reading the resurrection of dry bones
in ezekiel chapter 37:1-15 that really turned me off them. wonder if ezekiel was cremated
probably not. i think the more god fearing protestants still go for burial.:eek:
 
Cremation doesn’t stop God from resurrecting everyone at the end of time.
 
A dead body is a dead body. We aren’t body anymore. Why should I care if I died if someone threw me in a ditch to rot. That’s attachment to the body isn’t it. I’ve never got into the church’s teachings on this. And I’ve got a guy with the Knights of Columbus wanting to sell me death insurance. Now we have to be buried in holy ground right? I need to know this for preparation too. What does the church say about selling your body to science?
 
billcu1 said:
A dead body is a dead body. We aren’t body anymore. Why should I care if I died if someone threw me in a ditch to rot. That’s attachment to the body isn’t it. I’ve never got into the church’s teachings on this. And I’ve got a guy with the Knights of Columbus wanting to sell me death insurance. Now we have to be buried in holy ground right? I need to know this for preparation too. What does the church say about selling your body to science?
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The Church teaching below states that free donation of organs is permitted but I can’t find anything that states we can turn our bodies over for scientific research.

Regarding cremation it is not permitted for ashes to be scattered or put in urns to be kept at home. They must be properly entombed.

**
CCC 2301 Autopsies can be morally permitted for legal inquests or scientific research. The free gift of organs after death is legitimate and can be meritorious.

The Church permits cremation, provided that it does not demonstrate a denial of faith in the resurrection of the body.**
 
ealfred said:
Can we as Catholic Cremate the body?
I remember when I was a kid, I asked if cremation was ok for Catholic and I got the answer NO. I never researched the topic before as I’m more interested in other topics in regard to faith. Yesterday for some reason I googled the topic and I read that Yes it is now acceptable for Catholic to do so. Can someone explain? Thanks
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Cremation goes against Church teaching. As late as 1917 the Church condemned the practice. In 1917 the Code of Canon Law, signed by Pope Benedict XV, codified the Catholic tradition of burial and the severe sanctions incurred by those who broke with this tradition. It prescribed burial, forbade cremation, and declared null and void the will of a Christian who asked to be cremated (Can. 1203, #1), depriving such a one of a Church burial and of all memorial Masses, even on the anniversary of Death

My father-in-law was cremated in the novus ordo.

I told my wife that the Church views him in hell.
 
I believe that it’s possible for Catholics to donate their body’s for scientific research. This article may assist you.
 
Bergon said:
I believe that it’s possible for Catholics to donate their body’s for scientific research. This article may assist you.
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Thanks. I’ve bookmarked that. I see body donation is permitted but under pretty strict conditions regarding burial/entombment of the body/ashes afterwards.
 
thistle said:
Thanks. I’ve bookmarked that. I see body donation is permitted but under pretty strict conditions regarding burial/entombment of the body/ashes afterwards.
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Yes, I believe as Catholics the body must always be respected and disposed of in accrodance with Church teaching. A former colleague of mine had a relative whose body was donated to the local medical school. She said it felt very strange going to the person’s funeral two years after they died.
 
The problem with cremation is that not all of the body is gathered. Bone fragments are left out and discarded of. Also, I can imagine a few ashes from others being in the mix along with a few of yours missing. I don’t see how this process is respectful in any way to the person or their body. If the Church does not allow for spreading the ashes, then cremation, as it is performed, violates this discipline since all ashes are not retained and some go elsewhere.

I think this is just another area in which we are being influenced by the secular and atheistic world view.
 
=ealfred;11185760]Can we as Catholic Cremate the body?
I remember when I was a kid, I asked if cremation was ok for Catholic and I got the answer NO. I never researched the topic before as I’m more interested in other topics in regard to faith. Yesterday for some reason I googled the topic and I read that Yes it is now acceptable for Catholic to do so. Can someone explain? Thanks
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YES; BUT:rolleyes:
The remains cannot be discarded or scattred [like in so many movies].

They are to be kept reverently as having been home to the Eternal -SOUL:thumbsup:
 
shocktrooper said:
The problem with cremation is that not all of the body is gathered. Bone fragments are left out and discarded of. Also, I can imagine a few ashes from others being in the mix along with a few of yours missing. I don’t see how this process is respectful in any way to the person or their body. If the Church does not allow for spreading the ashes, then cremation, as it is performed, violates this discipline since all ashes are not retained and some go elsewhere.

I think this is just another area in which we are being influenced by the secular and atheistic world view.
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Skin cells flake off the uncremated corpse, but this does not constitute a scattering. If we are going to be really legalistic about things, we would have to bury people alive to ensure that no particles of their body were “scattered” after they died. Why does it matter so much? All corpses suffer corruption, and God is going to put us all back together again anyway. As long as the body is treated with respect, then what is the problem?
 
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