Q. Can a Catholic be cremated after death and if so, can they be buried in a Catholic cemetery?
A. Yes, a Catholic’s body may be cremated after death and yes, certainly, cremated remains may be buried in a Catholic cemetery.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church says, “The Church permits cremation, provided that it does not demonstrate a denial of faith in the resurrection of the body” (2301). Likewise, the Code of Canon law says, “…The Church earnestly recommends that the pious custom of burying the bodies of the deceased be observed; nevertheless, the Church does not prohibit cremation unless it was chosen for reasons contrary to Christian doctrine” (1176).
At times in history, cremation was, by some, chosen as a sign of denial of the resurrection of the body – denial of the essential Christian belief that Christ will come again on the last day and raise all the faithful departed, and that the dead will be united with their soul in a glorified body. Christians buried their dead – not only to show respect for the deceased’s bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit – but also to show their faith in the resurrection of the body.
In 2016, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) issued an instruction regarding the burial of the dead and conservation of ashes in case of cremation.
“The Church raises no doctrinal objections to this practice, since cremation of the deceased’s body does not affect his or her soul, nor does it prevent God, in his omnipotence, from raising up the deceased body to new life,” the instruction says.
The instruction, approved by Pope Francis, also reiterated that the burial of the dead needs to take place in cemeteries or other sacred places.
The bodies of the dead “must be treated with respect and charity, in faith and hope of the Resurrection. The burial of the dead is a corporal work of mercy; it honors the children of God, who are temples of the Holy Spirit” (Catechism, 2300). This of course applies to the dead who receive a traditional burial, and also the dead whose remains are cremated.
A Christian’s body should be treated with the utmost respect after death, and nothing should be done with the cremated ashes that wouldn’t be done with a full body. The Church does not allow ashes to be scattered, separated, stored at home, etc. Instead, one’s ashes should have a dignified final resting place within a cemetery, and they are most welcome in a Catholic cemetery. Cremated remains may be entombed in-ground, in a columbarium niche – an above-ground structure in which one or two urns may be placed per niche, or in an indoor mausoleum.
Related item: Why does the Church promote the veneration of relics, but does not allow retaining the cremains of loved ones?
As well as honoring the body of the deceased, burial offers a place where family and friends of the deceased may go to pray for the soul of the dead, and it encourages the entire Christian community to remember and pray for the deceased so that they may not be forgotten.
Calvary Cemetery in Lincoln, the diocesan Catholic cemetery, has in recent years offered an annual committal service on All Souls Day to provide entombment of cremated remains at no cost for those who, for various reasons, had not received proper burial.
There is no mandate for Catholics to be buried in a parish or diocesan cemetery or mausoleum. Any grave may be blessed at the time of burial.
Write to Ask the Register using our online form, or write to 3700 Sheridan Blvd., Suite 10, Lincoln NE 68506-6100. All questions are subject to editing. Editors decide which questions to publish. Personal questions cannot be answered. People with such questions are urged to take them to their nearest Catholic priest.
