On 25 October, the Vatican Congregation for the Faith gave an instruction on Cremation. The instruction, Ad resurgendum cum Christo emphasises that ashes should be put in a sacred place, not transformed into jewellery or other commemorative memorabilia.
Vatican, 25 October 2016
An Instruction of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith regarding burial of the dead and conservation of ashes in case of cremation, entitled Ad resurgendum cum Christo was presented today in the Holy See Press Office, by Cardinal Gerhard Müller, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; its Consultor Father Angel Rodriguez Luno and Father Serge Thomas Bonino, O.P. Secretary of the International Theological Commission. Link
Cardinal Müller said that, because cremation is becoming more widespread, it will be considered as an ordinary practice. This development, he noted, is accompanied by another phenomenon: “the conservation of the ashes in a domestic environment, their conservation in commemorative memory or their dispersion in nature.”
Therefore, the specific issue of this document refers to the conservation of the ashes, without forgetting that “the Church earnestly recommends that the pious custom be kept of burying the bodies of the deceased,” although cremation “is not prohibited unless it was chosen for reasons contrary to Christian Doctrine.”
In fact, a canonical normative on the preservation of the ashes did not exist; therefore, some Episcopal Conferences requested the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for guidelines on how and where the funerary urn should be kept, he said.
Cardinal Müller reiterated: “the Church continues to recommend insistently that the bodies of the deceased be buried in a cemetery or other sacred place.” Moreover, burial “is the most fitting way to express faith and hope in bodily resurrection.”
He acknowledged that there can be legitimate reasons to choose cremation, but the ashes must normally be kept in a sacred place, namely, in a cemetery or sacred place; it is necessary to avoid pantheistic or naturalistic ambiguities; therefore, the dispersion of ashes in the air, on the earth, in water or other way, or to convert the ashes into commemorative memories is not permitted.”
With this new Instruction, noted the Cardinal, we wish to contribute “so that Christian faithful have an ulterior awareness of their dignity.” He concluded by reminding that it is necessary to “evangelise the meaning of death in the light of faith in the Risen Christ.”
Media Q and A
Q: The most incontrovertible “no” in the document is for the dispersion of the ashes of the deceased or their transformation into “commemorative memories, jewellery pieces or other objects.”
Cardinal Müller: This is contrary to the Christian tradition. We do not want the faith to be privatised and have the memory become something individual; it is something that belongs to the Church and to the family of God. Therefore, it is confirmed that it is better to find a common place for our dead, so that not only one who possesses the ring, for example, has a memory of the deceased but also others who want to pray for him. A living person did not only have relations with the person whose ashes he is carrying. Ashes cannot even be divided in several pieces: one in a ring, another in a necklace or in something else. It seems to me to be something altogether ridiculous.
Q: A practice of this sort, therefore, is
Cardinal Müller: It’s not a mortal sin and it isn’t even prohibited, but it is a symbol that is not in accord with the sentiments and principles of Christianity, because the body of the deceased – as I said – is not the private property of his relatives. We are all children of God and of the Church. A reason given is that objects are preserved on the basis of a testament, but the identity of a person expressed in his body is something else; it is not the inheritance or the almost material property of the relatives or of a parent, a wife or anyone who had relations
Q: What else?
Cardinal Müller: We must avoid mixing elements of Christian thought with those of secularised, materialist and individualist thought. It is necessary to return to integral Christian thought, or the awareness that when one is baptised at birth, the beginning of one’s life is with Christ and also hone’s morality, one’s social relations are influenced by one’s communion with Christ, consequently, also our death. Saint Paul spoke of death, in fact, in a perspective of communion: all the dead of Heaven will come on the last day, they will be united to the living on earth. This communal dimension of our existence has been lost in the West. There is talk of the autonomy of the person in a “bourgeois” sense.
Q: In the document, the Church confirms
Cardinal Müller: The model we follow is Jesus Christ, who was buried after His death and rose. In virtue of the Christian tradition, the Church has always suggested, therefore, the practice of burial with the veneration of the deceased and prayer in a cemetery or sacred place close to the Church. Cremation was in use among pagans of the Roman Empire and it came back in the 19th century with the materialist current as expression of denial of the faith and of the resurrection. These anti-clerical materialists advanced the proposal of cremation to show themselves superior to us Christians, too “late” in the development of thought. However, cremation is not always done to deny the faith. In such cases, the Church accepts and tolerates it, as long as some conditions are respected such as, in fact, not dispersing the ashes in a forest, in water, almost as though wishing to dissolve the identity of the dead. The Church in fact wants a place for a personal memory where the name of the deceased is inserted, because every one must be called by his name, every one must have his dignity.
Q: What happens now to one who already had a relative cremated?
Cardinal Müller: We are not speaking of a punishment for someone who has done this, nor do we want to convince people now, but confirm what is the right attitude, according to the Church, in face of death. It is difficult to die and also to lose a loved one, but everyone must accept this as a truth that God is our Savior and does not leave us outside the hope of resurrection. Therefore, the Church advises all the faithful against cremation and admonishes them to act according to the faith, so as not to be “partial” Christians but
