To another he said, ‘Follow me.’ But he said, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’ But Jesus said to him, ‘Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.’

BY DANIEL GAITAN | daniel@lifemattersmedia.org

Despite recent attempts from the Vatican to clarify rules for cremation, the Roman Catholic Church continues to have a complex relationship with the growing practice.

For most of its 2,000-year history, the Church permitted only burial, arguing that it best expressed the Christian hope in the resurrection of the body at the end of days. In 1963 as a result of Vatican II, the Church allowed for cremation so long as it did not suggest denial of faith.

Since then, cremation has become increasingly common among Christians in North America, partly because it costs less than burial and may be more environmentally friendly. According to the Cremation Association, more than half of all people who died last year in the U.S. were cremated, up from about a quarter in 2000.

While the permission to cremate was incorporated into the Code of Canon Law in 1983, Church law has not specified what should be done with cremains until this fall.

In response to the option’s growing popularity, the Vatican clarified guidance for Catholics wishing to be cremated after death. The Church has offered a list of best practices in its Ad resurgendum cum Christo (To Rise with Christ).

“Following the most ancient Christian tradition, the Church insistently recommends that the bodies of the deceased be buried in cemeteries or other sacred places,” according to the instruction.

“The Church continues to prefer the practice of burying the bodies of the deceased, because this shows a greater esteem towards the deceased. Nevertheless, cremation is not prohibited, unless it was chosen for reasons contrary to Christian doctrine.’”

Clarification From The Vatican

According to the Vatican, cremains must neither be scattered nor kept at home, but stored in a sacred, Church-approved place. For example, it would not be appropriate for a wife to place some of her deceased husband’s remains in a locket for comfort.

“I have been a priest nearly 40 years, and this has only come to my attention and been a common practice in the last ten to 15 years,” said the Rev. Steven Avella, a professor of Christian history at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wis.

“Most of the funerals now that many of us get are cremations,” he said. “I assume because it is relatively inexpensive.”

As the faithful become more accustomed to cremation, Catholic cemeteries have begun setting aside special places for cremains. Avella says that cremains are often placed in urns and sealed behind glass in ornate mausoleums. Frequently, a photo of the deceased is placed nearby.

“It has been taken in by the Catholic funeral industry,” he said.

The Prohibition

The fundamental belief among Christians is the resurrection of the dead, or resuscitation of the body in “some form,” Avella said. This is the reason why burial or placement in a tomb has long been emphasized: Catholics wanted their body ready for resurrection. Cremation, they feared, could complicate matters.

However, during the Enlightenment, many began to openly question the existence of life after death. Such thought inspired the Church to oppose cremation.

“As time went on, particularly in the 18th century, some began to deny the very existence of eternal life and believed that when you died, you die,” Avella said. “Within Western Christianity, you had a very militant group of people, sometimes atheists or people dubious of some traditional claims of Christianity, and for them it didn’t matter what happens to the body.”

The Church reacted to this backlash, forbidding those buried in Catholic cemeteries from being cremated.

“The thinking at the time was that if you are cremated, you tacitly express belief in this atheistic or non-religious view of eternal life,” Avella said. “This eventually went by the way. By 1963, Catholics were not all that worried that anybody who was cremated was denying the fundamental truth of resurrection.”

Avella said that devout Catholics who choose cremation should not worry “if they will be raised.” The recently published guidance aims only to ensure that people’s remains go to an honorable place of resting.

The word cemetery evolved from the Latin coemētērium, which translates to “room for sleeping.”

“You should go to a place of rest, where your memory can be cherished and memorialized,” Avella said. “There you wait for the moment of glory, not on a mantlepiece.”

Michael P. Murphy, director of Catholic Studies at Loyola University Chicago, said early Christians turned to the Gospels for guidance regarding disposition. The Gospels heavily influenced the Roman Catholic preference for full-body burial or entombment.

“When you get to Jesus and Palestine in the first century, the idea of a tomb is incredibly important,” Murphy said. “The tomb, moreover, is central to Christianity. The empty tomb, in particular, is how the Church starts. Burial and tombs are with Christianity from the very beginning.”

‘Keeping It Together’

Scott D. Moringiello, assistant professor of Catholic Studies at DePaul University in Chicago, said that most Christians believe the body and soul to be “one,” which is why scattering ashes is still discouraged by the Church.

“The Christian understanding of resurrection is that it is not just about your soul going to heaven, but at the end of time that bodies will be re-united with souls,” Moringiello said. “St. Thomas Aquinas is pretty clear on this: you are not just your soul. You are who you are as a body. So you don’t have a body, you are a body.”

Aquinas, considered one of the Church’s greatest theologians and philosophers, taught that the human soul borders both the spiritual and material worlds. According to the highly influential 13th century priest, one’s soul persists after death and decay – capable of continued existence, even separated from the physical body during the time between death and the resurrection.

Moringiello said that the Vatican’s guidance is a reminder that bodies, including cremains, must be honored before the resurrection takes place – the day and hour of resurrection is a mystery.

“Human beings are by nature social animals, and your body is what makes you social,” he said. “For the Church, one’s relationship with God isn’t simply a private matter. It is a personal matter, but it is not a private matter. One is in relationship with God in and through other people. So, being placed in a cemetery if one chooses to be cremated, is to have your body there as a witness for all people.”

This practice allows other believers to pray over the deceased, and also ask for his or her prayers.

Murphy offered similar sentiments.

“There’s something about the unity of being – body and soul– that Aquinas was talking about. He was a genius,” Murphy said. “As long as you can kind of figuratively ‘keep it together,’ there’s something about the physicality of it all, even though you are not going to have the same exact body in heaven.”

Ashes To Ashes

To Murphy, it is ironic that cremation was not sanctioned by the Church long ago.

In Genesis, the first book of the Hebrew Bible, the Creator fashions humankind out of “dust of the ground,” as told in the second creation story.

When a person dies and decays, they will eventually return to the earth and become like an adam, a mud creature of the earth. Cremation could be seen as a short-cut, Murphy said.

“It is almost fundamental,” Murphy said. “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. It is where you are going to go anyway, so why not hyperactive it?”