Need to know the necessary criteria permitting cremation of a catholic dead body

[atenag]

I have been told that CATHOLICS that die can be cremated - and I would like to know the specifics of CHURCH LAWS that permit cremation also if cremation is not permitted - why?

 

[kage_ar]

**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.

Your handy dandy Cathecism of the Catholic Church at work

 

[ltbpoe43]

Agreed - cremation is allowed.
Donation of organs is allowed (except for the brain and genitals - I think I heard that or read it but can’t say where I saw it).

Cremation - the ashes must be respected and interred properly during a Catholic burial. They can not be distributed to the winds or water or forests, etc. Respect the body even if it is in the form of ashes.

 

[johnnykins]

I might add for the benefit of those who are always saying that the Church did not say such and so in any number of circumstances (thereby justifying doing all sorts of things), that “death” prior to cremation is also required - though I know of no document that explicitly says so.

 

[thann]

…Cremation - the ashes must be respected and interred properly during a Catholic burial. They can not be distributed to the winds or water or forests, etc. Respect the body even if it is in the form of ashes.

Also, you can’t put the ashes in separate vials to be saved by various family members. (My siblings wanted to do this with our parents’ ashes.) Also, the cremains must be interred or buried in sacred ground – that is, you can’t put the urn on your mantle.

'thann

 

[Jan_Wakelin]

For more information with references to pertinent Church documents, read The Church’s norms for Cremation.

 

[OutinChgoburbs]

Also, you can’t put the ashes in separate vials to be saved by various family members. (My siblings wanted to do this with our parents’ ashes.) Also, the cremains must be interred or buried in sacred ground – that is, you can’t put the urn on your mantle.

'thann

And Catholic may not turn “cremains” into genuine faux diamonds or “memorial jewelry and art”, where the ashes are mixed into the art piece.

 

[slewi]

Can I send a few ounces into space ala Gene Roddenberry?

 

[OutinChgoburbs]

Can I send a few ounces into space ala Gene Roddenberry?

Sorry, slewi, it’s an all or nothing deal at the local columbarium or urn garden…unless you have a foreign columbarium picked out that you like on Mars. And think about what happened to poor James Doohan!!!
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=3162098

 

[atenag]

Can I send a few ounces into space ala Gene Roddenberry?

 

[atenag]

In 1997, in an appendix to the Order of Christian Funerals, the Vatican provided an indult whereby each diocesan bishop in the United States may, at his discretion, allow for the presence of cremated remains at a funeral liturgy. The remains of cremated bodies must be treated with the same respect given to any human remains and they must be entombed. It is not in keeping with the reverent disposition that the Church requires to scatter cremated remains on the sea, from the air, or on the ground, or to keep them in the home of a relative or friend of the deceased

 

[atenag]

COPY AND PASTE THE BELOW url WEBSITE url which will take you to the WEB PAGE TO GET YOUR ANSWER!
[cuf.org/FaithFacts/details_view.asp?ffID=49](http://www.cuf.org/FaithFacts/details_view.asp?ffID=49)

 

[Digitonomy]

From the link that Jan Wakelin gave in #6,

In the past, the Church did not allow cremation because the practice was often employed by groups to deny Catholic doctrine, most significantly the resurrection of the dead and the immortality of the soul.

Can anyone provide more information about what groups practiced this for the purpose of denying Catholic doctrine, and whether the Church ever allowed cremation before the 1960s?

 

[atenag]

please define resurrection of the dead - does that suggest an actual body or a spiritual body will be resurrected? Also - I know the past provided for the future and the future is where we are now - the governing church laws have changed for CREMATION.

 

[Digitonomy]

please define resurrection of the dead - does that suggest an actual body or a spiritual body will be resurrected?

Once again from the Catechism, this time from the glossary and expounding on paragraph 988:

The resurrection of the body means not only that the immortal soul will live on after death, but that even our “mortal bodies” (Rom 8:11) will come to life again.

The cite of Romans refers to this verse:

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.