St. Mary Parish, Manchester at 210 West Main Street, Manchester, MI 48158 US - Cremated Remains must be properly interred

CREMATED REMAINS CANNOT BE SCATTERED
The Catholic Church has allowed for her members to choose cremation as one means of disporition of the remains of their deceased loved ones after death. This permission does not give to Catholics carte blanche to be able to do whatever they want with the cremated remains once the process of cremation has taken place.

If a cremation occurs prior to the funeral rites of the Church, then the cremated remains should be brought to the local parish church for a Funeral Mass. After the Funeral Mass the cremated remains must be either interred in the earth or placed into a mausoleum or columbarium.

The Catholic Church does not allow for the scattering of cremated remains, for the division of the cremated remains among family members, or for the keeping of the cremated remains of the deceased in the home. These secular practices do not render the proper respect for the remains of the deceased, and they are in opposition to the Catholic faith.

THE FUNERAL HOME WILL SELL YOU ANYTHING
Cremation has turned into a big industry, and because of this, all kinds of strange practices that make money have appeared in funeral homes.

You can have cremated remains divided in beautiful little urns so that everyone can have a piece of their deceased loved one with them. You can have cremated remains placed into a necklace that can be worn around the neck. You can have cremated remains shot into space.

The funeral home, while providing an important service for the preparation and burial of human remains, is not going to teach Catholic Christians about what they should do when their loved one dies. The Church is where a Roman Catholic should go to find out if what they are choosing for the deceased regarding cremation is in keeping with the Church’s sacred Tradition. If it isn’t it, then it cannot be done out of respect for the deceased and in keeping with the Catholic faith.

STRANGE AND MACABRE PRACTICES
There are some very strange and even macabre practices that have come into existence with the allowance of cremation for the deceased Roman Catholic. These practices are fueled not only by the funeral home industry but also more powerfully by television and movies.

How often in television shows and movies do we hear about people scattering ashes over a lake or some spot that has significant meaning to the deceased person? It sounds so touching and romantic. To say it bluntly: this practice is bizarre.

Let me be a little graphic to make my point. If after death we decided to take the body of our deceased loved one and dissect it into manageable-sized pieces and then went to our favorite spot and took those dismembered remains and threw them into the lake on our favorite piece of property, we would be considered to be mentally unstable. The practice of scattering cremated remains is no different. This practice does not show the proper respect nor does it give the proper reverence to the remains of the person who was created in God’s image and likeness.

Cremated remains are the remains of a human being. We cannot expect the secular world to teach Catholic Christians about the matters of faith; therefore we cannot expect the secular world or the local funeral home to teach us about how Catholic Christians are to properly care for the remains of their dead.

I cannot tell you the number of times in the 15 years that I have been a priest that I have heard from Catholic people that they had scattered the cremated remains of their deceased loved one, or divided up the cremated remains among family members, or even have kept the cremated remains in the home so that they could have that person with them. I am always shocked whenever I hear this from Catholic people.

THE GRAVE OR TOMB IS A SIGN OF HOPE THAT PROMISES RESURRECTION
The proper interment of cremated remains or the embalmed body is a sign of hope in the resurrection of Christ.

Christians bury their dead in imitation of the burial of Christ after His death on the cross. The grave, the tomb, the columbarium is the way in death that the deceased follows the pattern of Christ. These proper places of interment also allow the living to come to pray for the soul of the deceased loved one and to look forward in hope to the day when their deceased loved one will be raised in glory.

Many people are choosing cremation because of the reduced cost. The Church still prefers that the intact body be interred after death; she allows cremation and suggests that it occurs after the Funeral Mass.

There are ways of working around the ever-increasing costs of burial. Prior to the 20th century, the body of the deceased was kept in Vigil in the home, taken to the church by the family, as well as to the cemetery.

No matter what choices are made for the remains of the deceased, they must reflect the belief of the Roman Catholic Church. Roman Catholic people need to know far in advance of death what they believe so that when confronted with death they will make those choices that reflect a firm belief in the sacred dignity of the human body and are consistent with one who believes in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.

—Fr. Tim

[NOTE: Please see the related article below, "A Postscript on Cremation," if you have in your possession cremated remains or have already scattered them.]