One deceased in three urns?

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Alma

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The other day in Mass there were three urns in front of the altar. :highprayer:

I thought they belonged to three different persons, but it turned out there was only one deceased, a lady whose photograph was placed on top of the three urns. :eek:

I wonder: was she too fat and her abundant ashes did not fit into one urn (or two for that matter)?😊

Or did each of her three grown children decide to divide the ashes in three equal parts (so nobody could quarrel about the others getting more:slapfight:), so each could take his or her part to a particular niche in his or her parish’ crypt?

Or did they decide to scatter some of the ashes somewhere, put some in a cemetery and keep some at home? :bigyikes:

I can’t figure it out. :hmmm:

I had never seen such thing before. Have you?

In any case I would like to ask if the Catholic Church allows such a thing. I do not think so, but I am not sure.:ehh:

Thanks!

Alma
 
My husband’s grandparents died as the result of a car accident. They were both cremated, their ashes combined and then divided out between their three children so each sibling could have a part of mom and dad. My husband’s aunt actually had part of her portion put into mini-urns so each of children could have one too. Honestly I found it a bit disturbing but none of these people are Catholic.

My mother-in-law asked if we wanted (her portion of) her parents ashes after she passed away. We informed her as Catholics (my hubby is a convert) we are not permitted to keep human remains in the home. They either need to be buried in a grave or entombed in a mausoleum (-or columbarium).She has decided to have them buried with her.

Since this was a Catholic Mass I question what would be the reason for three urns. I seriously doubt the church allows the body to divided and entombed in three separate places although I can’t say for sure,it certainly doesn’t allow for ashes on the mantle piece. Maybe an apologist on the Ask the Apologist forum could give you an official answer.
 
Thank you for sharing your experienca, Rayne89!

I wonder if there are others in this forums who may know what the Church says about this.

Alma
 
Alma said:
The other day in Mass there were three urns in front of the altar.

I thought they belonged to three different persons, but it turned out there was only one deceased, a lady whose photograph was placed on top of the three urns.
…
Or did each of her three grown children decide to divide the ashes in three equal parts, so each could take his or her part to a particular niche in his or her parish’ crypt?

Or did they decide to scatter some of the ashes somewhere, put some in a cemetery and keep some at home? :bigyikes:

I had never seen such thing before. Have you?

In any case I would like to ask if the Catholic Church allows such a thing. I do not think so, but I am not sure.:ehh:
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Well, my charity wants to believe that there is a legit reason, but…I don’t think anyone of…a larger size would really be that much larger after cremation. I hope that all three urns will be interred in the same place. Visiting a deceased parent can be a time for the family to come together.
 
Spirithound said:
Well, my charity wants to believe that there is a legit reason, but…I don’t think anyone of…a larger size would really be that much larger after cremation. I hope that all three urns will be interred in the same place. Visiting a deceased parent can be a time for the family to come together.
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I was under the impression that the church was against cremation in general… huh… anyone know?
 
promethius said:
I was under the impression that the church was against cremation in general… huh… anyone know?
Click to expand...
No. It used to be the case, I suspect for a period for the Magisterium to properly consider this “new practice”, but now it is allowed, except if it is chosen in defiance of the Final Resurrection.
 
Alma said:
The other day in Mass there were three urns in front of the altar. :highprayer:

I thought they belonged to three different persons, but it turned out there was only one deceased, a lady whose photograph was placed on top of the three urns. :eek:

I wonder: was she too fat and her abundant ashes did not fit into one urn (or two for that matter)?😊

Or did each of her three grown children decide to divide the ashes in three equal parts (so nobody could quarrel about the others getting more:slapfight:), so each could take his or her part to a particular niche in his or her parish’ crypt?

Or did they decide to scatter some of the ashes somewhere, put some in a cemetery and keep some at home? :bigyikes:

I can’t figure it out. :hmmm:

I had never seen such thing before. Have you?

In any case I would like to ask if the Catholic Church allows such a thing. I do not think so, but I am not sure.:ehh:
Short answer is, no, you’re not supposed to divide up the “cremains” & they need to be either buried in a cemetery or placed in another proper Catholic burial site.
We went through this when my brother died.I checked with someone in the diocese for rules re. cremated remains & got this answer.
Some hospitals/funeral homes may give you funky info. They are probably trying to be helpful, but without full knowledge of Catholic teaching.Ditto for family members who want to divvy up the remains.They’re just uninformed & doing the best they can.
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promethius said:
I was under the impression that the church was against cremation in general… huh… anyone know?
Click to expand...
From the CCC (bold mine):

scborromeo.org/ccc/para/2301.htm

**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.
 
kage_ar said:
From the CCC (bold mine):

scborromeo.org/ccc/para/2301.htm

**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.
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Awesome, thanks for the info, Spirithound and Kage. I was thrown off by a tour of rome and the catechombs because I guess ancient practice of discipline forbid the practice of burning bodies… which caused conflict with pagan romans for whom cremation was popular (as a means of disease control). Good to know this discipline has changed 🙂
 
Alma said:
The other day in Mass there were three urns in front of the altar. :highprayer:

I thought they belonged to three different persons, but it turned out there was only one deceased, a lady whose photograph was placed on top of the three urns. :eek:

I wonder: was she too fat and her abundant ashes did not fit into one urn (or two for that matter)?😊

Or did each of her three grown children decide to divide the ashes in three equal parts (so nobody could quarrel about the others getting more:slapfight:), so each could take his or her part to a particular niche in his or her parish’ crypt?

Or did they decide to scatter some of the ashes somewhere, put some in a cemetery and keep some at home? :bigyikes:

I can’t figure it out. :hmmm:

I had never seen such thing before. Have you?

In any case I would like to ask if the Catholic Church allows such a thing. I do not think so, but I am not sure.:ehh:

Thanks!

Alma
Click to expand...
No, the Catholic Church does not allow the dividing of the human remains after cremation. They are to be treated with the same respect as if they were a whole body. One would not normally consider cutting up a persons body to bury in different places. Even Saints Relics do not disfigure a whole body, small bone is usually removed carefully and then small chips or pieces of this bone are considered First Class Relics. A whole arm, or leg or foot is sometimes seen as a Relic, however the rest of the body has decomposed and turned to dust, while the arm, leg or foot remained incorrupt. In these special circumstances Rome grants special permission.
 
In the early days of the Church cremation was seen as a rejection of the belief that our bodies will be raised up at the Second Coming. This prohibition remained in place for centuries (it was lifted in 1963) but as has already been posted here cremation is not prohibitted unless it is explicitly done as a rejection of the Church’s teaching (in which case, presumably, the person wouldn’t care if it was prohibitted . . .)

Cremains must be buried or entombed - you can’t keep dad on the mantle or have grandma made into a nice necklace. You can be buried at sea (not sprinkled, buried). Not sure if the church has ruled on whether burial in space is the equivalent of buried at sea.

I know of at least one faithful Catholic whose wife is buried in both England and the US (Sheldon Van Auken wrote about this in A Severe Mercy ) but I don’t recall if she was Catholic at the time of her death? Anyway it might be possible to get a dispensation for such a purpose, so perhaps that was the reason for the three urns at this funeral.
 
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