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What is the Church’s teaching on cremated remains? 

 

This question comes up quite often.  In fact, a few weeks ago I was planning a memorial Mass for a dear Catholic friend when I learned that her four children had her cremated and divided her ashes into four urns as a keepsake for each.  That was not exactly what their mother desired nor what the Church teaches. 

 

There was a time when the Church opposed cremation because it was often practiced by atheists to deny the resurrection of the body. This reason would be rare today.  Since the Second Vatican Council, the Church permits cremation while still preferring to have the body present at the funeral Mass, though cremated remains are permitted. After the ceremony, the cremains should be buried like a body (which it is, but as “dust”) in a grave or placed in a columbarium. 

 

The Church reminds us that just as the body of the deceased is handled with respect and reverence at the funeral and lovingly buried afterward.  The cremated remains of the deceased are to receive similar respect.  We would not keep a dead body in our home or cut it into pieces and scatter it about. Neither should we keep the cremated ashes at home (i.e. keeping Grandma’s ashes on the mantel) or scatter them.  Though it may seem to be a good sentiment, the Church does not permit this type of in-home memorial. 

 

The final resting place is important.  It needs to be blessed and thereby a sacred place. This final resting place goes beyond the inner circle of the family. It is a place where the person’s name is remembered, a place where their time on earth is recorded, and they can be visited by family, friends, and future generations. 

 

The Congregation of the Doctrine for the Faith provides these reasons as to why the Church places so much emphasis on remembering our dead.  We believe in: 

Like the body, the cremated remains recall the personal story of faith, the past relationships, and the continued spiritual presence of the deceased person.   May we never forget them and may our prayers for those who have gone before us never cease. 


Author Bio:
Deacon Dan Vaughn