Scholion. On the Cremation of Bodies

I. The Prohibition of Cremating Bodies. The bodies of the faithful departed are to be buried, the cremation of the same being reprobated (can. 1203, § 1). The Church forbids the cremation of the bodies of the faithful, both because the custom of cremating bodies is pagan, and because this custom is promoted as a certain protest against the resurrection and the immortality of the soul. Moreover, that the ecclesiastical prohibition obliges under grave sin is clear both from the fact that the Holy Office¹ calls the cremation of bodies a detestable abuse, and from the penalties established against transgressors; concerning these there will be discussion immediately.

Corollary I. It is unlawful "to give one's name to societies whose purpose is to promote the practice of burning human corpses";² likewise "to order that one's own corpse or those of others be burned."³

Corollary II. If anyone has in any way ordered that his body be cremated, it is unlawful to carry out this will; and if it has been added to a contract, testament, or any other act whatsoever, it is to be regarded as not added (can. 1203, § 2).

¹ 19 May 1886 (A. S. S. vol. 19, p. 46).

² Holy Office, 19 May 1886 (A. S. S. vol. 19, p. 46).

³ 27 July 1892.

II. Cooperation in Cremation. 1. The Holy Office¹ decreed that in cremation "it is never lawful to cooperate formally by command or counsel. But material cooperation can sometimes be tolerated, provided that: 1° the cremation is not held as a protest-sign of the Masonic sect; 2° there is not contained in it anything which of itself, directly, and uniquely expresses reprobation of Catholic doctrine and approval of the sect; 3° nor is it established that Catholic officials and workers are bound or called to the work in contempt of the Catholic religion. For the rest, although in these cases they are to be left in good faith, they are nevertheless always to be admonished that they not intend to cooperate in cremation."²

2. The Apostolic Vicar of Vizagapatam asked the Sacred Congregation de Propaganda Fide: 1° what was to be done there, where the bodies of Christians were sometimes cremated by pagan relatives; whether resistance was to be made, with harm to the propagation of the faith, or whether one should proceed passively, and meanwhile, by instructing the people, promote the abolition of the abuse; 2° what should be done where a dying pagan asks for baptism, but it is foreseen that the body will be cremated. To these things the Sacred Congregation replied:³ "The question ... was submitted to the judgment of the Supreme Inquisition. The response which I received from that venerable Congregation concerning this matter is contained in the following decree, which I communicate to you, namely: 'You must not approve cremation, but conduct yourself passively, always conferring baptism, and take care that the peoples be instructed according to those things which are set forth by you.'"

¹ 27 July 1892.

² Cf. Holy Office, 10 June 1926 (A. A. S. 1926, p. 282).

³ 27 September 1884 (Collectanea, n. 1626).

III. The Established Penalties. 1. Those who have ordered their body to be given over to cremation are deprived of ecclesiastical burial, unless before death they have given some signs of repentance (can. 1240, 5°). Moreover, "those are to be deprived of ecclesiastical burial who have ordered their body to be given over to cremation and have remained in this will up to death, even if cremation does not follow according to the norm of can. 1203, § 2."¹ Finally, neither is it lawful "to bestow ecclesiastical burial upon the ashes of one cremated, or in any way to preserve them in a blessed cemetery."²

2. It is unlawful "publicly to offer the Sacrifice of the Mass for the faithful whose bodies have been cremated not without their own fault ... and likewise to accept foundations for this purpose."³ Besides, those err who, "from the specious reason that the deceased, while he was living, had been accustomed to perform some act of religion, or that perhaps at the last moment of life he could have retracted his depraved will, judge it lawful to perform for him, in the presence of the corpse, ecclesiastical funeral rites according to custom, although this corpse afterwards, by the deceased's own arrangement, is to be handed over to fire. For since nothing can be certainly established concerning this conjectured retraction, it is plain that no account can be taken of it in the external forum."⁴

¹ Pontifical Commission, 10 November 1925 (A. A. S. 1925, p. 583).

² Holy Office, 19 June 1926 (A. A. S. 1926, p. 282).

³ Holy Office, 27 July 1892.

⁴ Holy Office, 19 June 1926 (A. A. S. 1926, p. 282).

IV. Notes. 1. If some member of the faithful has ordered that his body be cremated after death, he has indeed sinned gravely. But if he is in good faith, with respect to admonition "the rules handed down by approved authors are to be observed, especially taking account of avoiding scandal."¹

2. "Whenever there is question of those whose bodies are subjected to cremation not by their own will but by the will of another, the rites and suffrages of the Church can be used both at home and in church, but not as far as the place of cremation, scandal having been removed. Scandal, moreover, can also be removed if it is made known that cremation was not chosen by the will of the deceased himself."²

¹ Holy Office, 27 July 1892 (Collectanea, n. 1808).

² Holy Office, 15 December 1886 (A. S. S. vol. 25, p. 63); cf. Sacred Congregation de Propaganda Fide, 26 January 1911.