August 25, 2010

Considerations for Catholics desiring cremation

By Deacon Charles Parker

The Office of Liturgy receive inquires on a regular basis from Catholics wanting to know the Church’s teaching on cremation. While the Church allows cremation it “does not enjoy the same value as burial of the body (Order of Christian Funerals No. 413).

But as cremation becomes more common in our society, as Catholics, it is good for us to remember the importance that the actual body of the deceased has in our funeral Mass celebrations.

While the Church views cremation as an acceptable form of final disposition, the body of the deceased has a very central role in the actual funeral services.  As Catholics, our understanding of the human person is that God created us as a composite of body and soul.  Our bodies and our souls make us who we are as God’s creation and give us the ability to enter into a relationship with Him.  It is unfortunate that we commonly hear fellow Christians diminish the importance of the body, especially after death, referring to the body as simply “a container for the soul.”

The promise of the future resurrection reminds us that the body is part of God’s plan for salvation.  This is why in our funeral liturgies we sprinkle the casket with holy water, we incense the casket, and we adorn the casket with a pall.  These signs serve as reminders to us of our baptisms and that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

While an urn which holds the cremated remains of our loved ones is treated with similar dignity and ritual, (a funeral pall is never placed on an urn), the full physical body of our loved ones serve as a strong and powerful sign to us that the body is to be shown dignity and honor, both in remembrance of who that person was to us in life and who they will be once we are all glorified in the Lord.  

The Archdiocese of Denver has written “norms” for Christian burial based upon the Order of Christian Funerals and the liturgical law.  In these norms, it is recommended to bring the body of the deceased to church for the funeral Mass, (OCF No. 418).  It is preferable for the cremation to occur after the Mass.  Many funeral homes provide rental or ceremonial caskets for this purpose, or you can purchase a casket that is designed to be cremated. 

The cremated remains (some say “ashes”) are not to be scattered and are to be placed in a niche or the earth (OCF No. 417).  This reverent approach to the cremated remains is in accord with the dignity of the human form, a form that represents the temple of the Holy Spirit, a form that accommodated our savior, Jesus Christ.  A priest or deacon is usually involved in a final “committal” of the cremated remains and blesses the final resting place. 

A funeral planning workshop will be held on Nov. 6 at a parish sponsored by the Office of Liturgy. More information will forthcoming and published in the Denver Catholic Register.

If you have questions regarding the practice of cremation and Catholic funeral planning, call the Office of Liturgy at 303-715-3156 or email liturgy.office@archden.org. Click here for related stories.

Deacon Charles Parker is director of the Office of Liturgy for the Denver Archdiocese.