Published: July 19, 2008 11:33 pm            

CREMATION: Stances vary among churches, faithful

For devout Roman Catholics, cremation was traditionally not an option.

But with certain guidelines, church leaders now allow it.

“The church does permit cremation,” said the Rev. Msg. Robert Mazur, director of liturgy for the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese. “Burial of the body is preferred.”

As the number of cremations increases – the U.S. cremation rate hit 25 percent in 2000 – the Roman Catholic Church has approved of new rituals for funerals, starting in 1989 and addressed again in 1998 by bishops.

Most importantly, the church says the body should be present at the funeral Mass, although families can seek a bishop’s permission to have cremated remains at the service under outlined conditions, such as when cremation occurred because families weren’t aware of church guidelines or when the expense of keeping or transporting a body is too great.

Mazur stressed that traditional burials align better with Catholic traditions and “the church’s belief in the sacredness of the human body and the resurrection of the dead.”

Ashes must be kept in a “worthy” vessel and buried in a proper resting place, a private or Catholic cemetery.

Scattering is not approved by church officials.

The Catholic Church is not the only Christian organization to have reservations about cremation.

The Rev. Matthew Deal at St. Paul’s United Church of Christ in Somerset said cremation is not against church teaching, but some parishioners still are concerned about the body being available for resurrection.

“In our (nationwide) church, by and large, it’s not something that is discouraged,” he said.

“There are individuals I’ve encountered who are against the idea. It is this understanding that Christ will return and resurrect the bodies of the dead.”

Some traditional beliefs say the body needs to be intact to be resurrected, but many Christians are becoming more open to cremation, Deal added.

“It’s interesting how beliefs change,” he said.

Baptists, more than any other religious group, are more likely to shun cremation because it destroys the body, according to statistics from the Cremation Association of North America.

        

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