What does the Catholic Church have to say about cremation?
What does the Catholic Church have to say about cremation?
Before answering Kristine’s specific question, let’s take a look at what the Catholic Church has to say about cremation in general. The current Code of Canon Law contains only two canons that mention cremation at all. Canon 1176.3 asserts that the Church earnestly recommends that the pious custom of burial of the bodies of deceased faithful should be retained; but it adds that the Church does not forbid cremation, unless it is chosen for reasons that are contrary to Christian teaching.
Does Catholic religion allow for cremation?
Catholics who decide for cremation must attest that, in their decision, they do not deny belief in the doctrine of resurrection of the body. In the same way that the Church honors the body of a deceased person in imitation of Jesus, so Catholic doctrine teaches that the body will resurrect as Christ resurrected , with his body intact.
What should Christians believe about cremation?
All of these teachings on the treatment of cremated remains of the body correspond with the Christian’s foundational belief in eternal life—both body and soul—in Jesus Christ among the Communion of Saints . The Church clearly prefers and urges that the full body be present for the funeral rites (OCF, 414).
What do Catholics need to know about cremation?
Cremation of the body quickly reduces the body to about four to ten pounds of bone fragments. The Church requires that these remains of the body be placed in a respectful vessel and treated in the exact same way that a family would treat a body in a casket.
What is the Catholic teaching concerning cremation?
Although cremation is permitted, Catholic teaching continues to stress the preference for burial or entombment of the body of the deceased. This is done in imitation of the burial of Jesus’ body. “This is the Body once washed in baptism, anointed with the oil of salvation, and fed with the bread of life.
What does the church say about cremation?
Although the Church allows cremation, it considers the decision to cremate an extraordinary choice. Catholic teaching emphasizes respect for the human body and, so, a preference for burial of the body. Catholic doctrine and the contemporary Church continue to grant greater dignity and value to the burial of the body of a baptized Catholic.
