Cremation

[Erik3]

What is the Orthodox view of cremation?

Thanks, God Bless

 

[Rilian]

It is forbidden.

 

[Erik3]

why?

what about loved ones that have been cremated?

Thanks, God Bless

 

[gzt]

The pagans do it because they don't believe in the resurrection of the dead. Cremation is born of the belief that the body is an empty husk when you're dead. This body has just eaten the body and blood of Christ, how can you burn it? I mean, sure, God can resurrect you from the ashes, and you will eventually return to the dust you came from when you're buried, but we would rather let nature do it than deliberately destroy the body.

 

[Rilian]

The body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, even when the soul has reposed.

 

[Alexis OCA]

What a bummer....there go my plans to have my ashes spread out on the beach at Wildwood NJ.

 

[Suzannah]

What a bummer....there go my plans to have my ashes spread out on the beach at Wildwood NJ.

Solution: Write out your love for that place on paper. Burn it. Scatter the ashes yourself.

 

[Rilian]

What a bummer....there go my plans to have my ashes spread out on the beach at Wildwood NJ.

Not sure if you're being serious, but the RC doesn't allow cremation does it? That wouldn't make any sense.

 

[moses916]

Solution: Write out your love for that place on paper. Burn it. Scatter the ashes yourself.

haha

 

[Vasya Davidovich]

I have a couple friends who always refer to Chrismation as "Cremation."

As such, cremation has positive associations for me.

 

[moses916]

lol

 

[Wiffey]

Not sure if you're being serious, but the RC doesn't allow cremation does it? That wouldn't make any sense.

I think they do allow it now...my grandfather was cremated.( He wanted to have his ashes scattered in the ocean by all of us during the summer.)

He passed away in January 2003, so my mother kept his ashes in a shoebox in her closet. Summer was hectic that year, and she forgot about how her father was still in the closet wedged between her espadrilles and some old macrame belts. By the time she remembered it was fall and cold, so he stayed in there until spring of 2004, when one evening after dinner she remembered and grabbed the box. She and my father took a quick walk to the river behind their condo complex ("water is water") and dumped the ashes in after a moment of silence.

 

[Alexis OCA]

Solution: Write out your love for that place on paper. Burn it. Scatter the ashes yourself.

What a nice thought, thank you.

See my line of thinking was I didn't want to ruin anybody's week-end by having them come to visit dad or grandpa (one day I hope) at the cemetary. I thought it would be nice if they came down to the shore, had a lot fun and remembered me all at the same time. Plus it's a lot less expensive than what funeral homes rip you off for.

Gee, I guess cremation was one good reason to stay catholic...

9 days to Lazarus Saturday and my entry into Orthodoxy!!!!

 

[Alexis OCA]

Not sure if you're being serious, but the RC doesn't allow cremation does it? That wouldn't make any sense.

Yes, the RC does allow cremation and now even allows a church funeral service with the ashes present. Meaning of course the cremation can be done before the service. Although, most do the cremation shortly after the service.

 

[moses916]

way to find your way back to the home church Alexis OCA!

 

[Rilian]

Yes, the RC does allow cremation and now even allows a church funeral service with the ashes present. Meaning of course the cremation can be done before the service. Although, most do the cremation shortly after the service.

I am at a complete and utter loss. I really can't say more than that.

Wiffey, may your Grandfather's memory be eternal. I find the story you related both sad and emblematic to me of how I view this whole topic.

 

[Alexis OCA]

way to find your way back to the home church Alexis OCA!

Thank you brother!

 

[Alexis OCA]

here is part of the RC position:

The easing of the cremation rules for Catholics began with a 1963 instruction from the Holy Office (now the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith). That instruction allowed for cremation in cases of necessity (excluding rejection of Christian belief) but indicated, “The practice of burying the bodies of the faithful is by all means to be kept.”

The current Code of Canon Law (revised in 1983) retains this clear preference for burial or entombment: “The Church earnestly recommends that the pious custom of burying the bodies of the dead be observed; it does not, however, forbid cremation unless it has been chosen for reasons which are contrary to Christian teaching” (#1176).

In addition:

On April 18, 1997 Bishop Anthony Pilla informed the bishops of the United States that he had received a letter from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments which responded favorably to the NCCB's request for an indult to allow the presence of the cremated remains of a body at the Funeral Mass.
Bishop Pilla called attention to the language of the indult which gives to each diocesan bishop the right to decide whether to allow the practice in his diocese. In his letter, Bishop Pilla alerted the bishops to the Committee on the Liturgy's statement,"Reflections on the Body, Cremation, and Catholic Funeral Rites" which is now available as a catechetical tool to help dioceses understand the Church's position on burial and cremation.

So there you have it.

I have accepted the teaching of the Orthodox Church of course.

 

[Rilian]

it does not, however, forbid cremation unless it has been chosen for reasons which are contrary to Christian teaching” (#1176).

Cremation itself is contrary to Christian teaching. IMO.

 

[Alexis OCA]

Cremation itself is contrary to Christian teaching. IMO.

I am prayerfully coming to that conclusion.