Matters of life and death
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- Matters of life and death
- Questions about death
- Purgatory
- Communion of saints
- Science of the afterlife
- What does the Church think of “induced death” [euthanasia]?
- What meaning can be given to the final resurrection ?
- Is it possible to communicate with the dead ?
- The Church and Cremation.
- What should we think about “near-death experiences” ?
- What should we think about belief in re-incarnation ?
- Must we believe in Hell ?
- Fraternity’s prayer
- Welcome to the shrine
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- Death (7/7)
- Indulgences (1/7)
- Prayer (3/7)
- Purgatory (2/7)
The Church and Cremation. 
Cremation is a growing practice : lack of space, plots too expensive, cemeteries changed into green, silent spaces, changing fashions.
The Church is not a priori against cremation, if lack of space becomes a real problem.
But if it blesses and incenses the body and the grave, it is because this respect forms part of Christian tradition.
Cremation - and even more so the scattering of the ashes – risks leading to the suppression of all religious rites and increases the tendency of our society “which already does all it can to forget”.
A society which is not capable of accepting its own destiny is a society becoming de-humanised.
Sometimes, too, cremation is desired with the intention of denying Christian faith and in a sectarian spirit.
Church ritual, therefore, states that in the case of cremation, requested by the dead person, religious funeral rites may be accorded, unless this choice has been made for reasons opposed to Christian faith.