Q. When I read the obituaries it seems like more people are choosing cremation. Can a Catholic be cremated and still have a Mass?
 — R.J., Pecatonica
A. Cremation was proscribed in past times to direct that one’s body be reduced to ashes and was usually done by people who wanted to make a public avowal of their disbelief in God.

As with most professions of atheism that one too is stupid. If God made the whole universe out of nothing He could certainly constitute any one of us from the ashes that we leave behind. So, it is kind of moronic as most of the arguments for atheism are. Through the years of terrible world wars when the remains had to be disposed of quickly to avoid disrespect in some cases or disease in others, cremation was the only way to go and ceased to be automatically associated with a profession of atheism. 

Therefore, because cremation no longer had the direct equation to atheism, the Church had no objection in those cases.

We are taught that our bodies, our physical bodies, are temples of the Holy Spirit and the Church has always preferred sepulture, or burial, as being the most fitting way of putting to rest our human remains. But if there are people who prefer cremation for any acceptable reason, that is quite permitted.

In the Diocese of Rockford there are certain norms for Catholic funerals just as there are liturgical norms for baptism, marriage, ordination, etc. These norms of course, flow from our Catholic faith and teaching. In this diocese, when the choice has been made to cremate a body, it is recommended that the cremation take place after the Funeral Liturgy followed by the proper disposition of the remains according to the norms of the Church, that is, burial in a grave, or entombment in a mausoleum or columbarium.  If cremation takes place before the Funeral Liturgy, a burial place in a grave, or entombment in a mausoleum or columbarium for the cremated remains must be established in order to celebrate the Funeral Liturgy in the Church.

You can read more about cremation in your Catechism of the Catholic Church (2301) and find all the corresponding diocesan norms at http://www.rockforddiocese.org/divineworship

Send your topics or questions for Bishop Doran’s Teaching Moment to observer@rockforddiocese.org