Q&A with Fr John Flader. This week’s question: What is the Catholic Church’s view on cremation? I thought it was forbidden but in recent years I have heard of several good Catholics whose bodies were cremated.
By Fr John Flader
Let me begin with a brief history of the Church’s customs regarding the dead.
Going back to the Old Testament, it is clear that the ancient Israelites buried their dead (cf. Gen 49:28-32).
Burial was the common practice too among other ancient peoples, including the Egyptians, who practised embalming, the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Babylonians, Chinese, etc.
The Greeks and Romans usually buried their dead, sometimes even leaving food in the tomb in the belief that the deceased continued their life after death much the same as here on earth. Those who believed in a more spiritual existence of the person after death sometimes practised cremation, in order to hasten the arrival of the deceased to this shadowy land of spirits.
The early Christians always buried their dead, following the custom of their Jewish forbears. They sometimes risked their lives to recover the bodies of the martyrs in order to give them Christian burial.
Christian belief in the body as the temple of the Holy Spirit, as well as belief in the resurrection of the body on the Last Day were behind this respect shown to the body.
Cremation on the contrary was viewed as a pagan practice and a denial of the doctrine of the resurrection. By the fifth century, when Christianity was firmly established, the practice of cremation had ceased altogether in the Roman Empire. Late in the 19th century the Freemasons, in their opposition to Catholic beliefs, succeeded in having cremation legalised by various governments in Europe, beginning in Italy in 1873, and they founded societies to this end all over Europe.
Because of the anti-religious motivation of these groups, the Holy Office (now the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) issued a decree in 1886 which forbade joining cremation societies or having one’s own body or that of another cremated.
The ban remained in force until 1963, when an Instruction from the Holy Office allowed cremation in certain circumstances, provided the reasons for choosing cremation were not contrary to Christian belief. However, burial of the body was still preferred.
The revised funeral rites of 1969 allowed for cremation: “Funeral rites are to be granted to those who have chosen cremation, unless there is evidence that their choice was dictated by anti-Christian motives… The funeral is to be celebrated… in a way that clearly expresses the Church’s preference for burying the dead… that forestalls any danger of scandalising or shocking the faithful” (n.15).
The 1983 Code of Canon Law also reflected this criterion: “The Church earnestly recommends that the pious custom of burial be retained; but it does not forbid cremation, unless this is chosen for reasons which are contrary to Christian teaching” (Can. 1176, §3).
The Order of Christian Funerals, in use since 1989, gives the reasons why burial is preferred: “Since in Baptism the body was marked with the seal of the Trinity and became the temple of the Holy Spirit, Christians respect and honour the bodies of the dead and the places where they rest…” (n.19).
Following this new criterion, cremation is becoming more frequent. Among the reasons why some families prefer cremation are the reduced cost, the convenience in cases where the person died far from the place where they are to be buried, the scarcity of land available for burial in some places, etc.
Even when the body is cremated, the remains should still be buried in a grave or mausoleum, or in a special vault designed for urns containing the cremated remains, sometimes called a columbarium. Many cemeteries have special places for these remains.
The practice of scattering cremated remains on the sea, from the air or on the ground, or keeping them in the home of a relative or friend is discouraged.