VATICAN CITY — The Vatican released new rules on cremation in late October prohibiting the scattering of ashes on land or at sea, as well as keeping remains at home, according to The Christian Post.
In Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, it states that while the Church recommends burying bodies, cremation is increasingly being done in many places around the world.
“In memory of the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord, the mystery that illumines the Christian meaning of death, burial is above all the most fitting way to express faith and hope in the resurrection of the body,” it explains. “In order that every appearance of pantheism, naturalism or nihilism be avoided, it is not permitted to scatter the ashes of the faithful departed in the air, on land, at sea or in some other way, nor may they be preserved in mementos, pieces of jewelry or other objects.”
In Christianity, death is looked on in a positive light, because the body and soul will be united and “in the resurrection God will give incorruptible life to our body, transformed by reunion with our soul,” the document states. (TAB)
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