Illicit disposal of deceased?

  • Thread starter Thread starter MaryAnne77
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
M

MaryAnne77

Guest
Having planned a few Catholic funerals and interments, I know that the bodies of the deceased are required to be treated with respect and disposed of in a dignified manner (proper interment of corpse or, alternatively, ashes in an approved cemetery.) However, I was recently reading about this place, where the skeletons of the deceased friars are used as decoration and made into “art” in crypts that are open to tourists/visitors. Some of the skeletons are even made into chandeliers! Skulls of the deceased are stacked up in piles, and various other body parts are nailed to the walls and ceilings. There are also whole decomposing bodies propped up about the crypt. For a group of Catholic religious, this way of disposing of the corporeal remains does not seem to keep in teaching with The Church. Surely, I could not display my grandfather’s skeleton or use his bones to fabricate a sculptural piece! Surely, it would not be acceptable to hang bits of the deceased about our local parish for decoration. How is this practice okay with The Church?
 
MaryAnne77 said:
Having planned a few Catholic funerals and interments, I know that the bodies of the deceased are required to be treated with respect and disposed of in a dignified manner (proper interment of corpse or, alternatively, ashes in an approved cemetery.) However, I was recently reading about this place, where the skeletons of the deceased friars are used as decoration and made into “art” in crypts that are open to tourists/visitors. Some of the skeletons are even made into chandeliers! Skulls of the deceased are stacked up in piles, and various other body parts are nailed to the walls and ceilings. There are also whole decomposing bodies propped up about the crypt. For a group of Catholic religious, this way of disposing of the corporeal remains does not seem to keep in teaching with The Church. Surely, I could not display my grandfather’s skeleton or use his bones to fabricate a sculptural piece! Surely, it would not be acceptable to hang bits of the deceased about our local parish for decoration. How is this practice okay with The Church?
Click to expand...
I don’t know about “decomposing bodies”, but in many places, the treatment of the bones is centuries old, and has been AIUI maintained for historical purposes.

ICXC NIKA.
 
Having planned a few Catholic funerals and interments, I know that the bodies of the deceased are required to be treated with respect and disposed of in a dignified manner (proper interment of corpse or, alternatively, ashes in an approved cemetery.)
Click to expand...
These are today’s standards of treating remains with respect. These bone chapels are many centuries old. The treatment of the dead in general was much different then. You can be certain they were conforming to their day’s standards. In other words, they were respecting the dead and treating them with dignity, just in a different way than would be acceptable for us in this time and place.
 
I think this refers to a famous chapel in Europe, the Czech republic, I think, that is centuries old and since it is sacred space–not a lounge or theater–they are housed reverently.
 
puzzleannie said:
I think this refers to a famous chapel in Europe, the Czech republic, I think, that is centuries old and since it is sacred space–not a lounge or theater–they are housed reverently.
Click to expand...
Actually, it’s in Rome.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top