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BY HERBERT VEGO
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The Church’s indecisiveness on cremation
THE latest announcement from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) urging the public not to scatter anywhere or keep at home the ashes of the cremated dead has somehow sown “guilt” in rabid Roman Catholics.
It’s an offshoot of a new Vatican decree authorized by Pope Francis, asking adherents not to keep the departed’s ashes at home, or preserve them in a container, or spread over land and sea. Instead, the ashes should be kept in a proper place in a church or part of a cemetery “which has been set aside for this purpose.”
The decree does not explain why cremation disrespects the deceased. On the contrary, methinks it’s in keeping with the Bible verse (Genesis 3:19), “Dust you are and to dust you will return.”
I can imagine the Catholic wife of my cremated late brother Efren feeling uncomfortable over a newspaper quotation attributed to CBCP’s Fr. Jerome Secillano: “Those practices are un-Christian. We believe as Catholics that even the remains of those who passed away should be respected,”
If it’s any consolation, a number of Catholic celebrities have expressed outrage over the new decree. Actress Whoopi Goldberg, who played a nun in Sister Act, has hollered on TV, “You can’t dictate to people what is sacred.”
Goldberg’s mother had been cremated and her ashes scattered “all over the house.”
To this day the urn containing the ashes of my brother Efren occupies a visible spot at the living room of his house.
Long before he breathed his last due to multiple organ failure, my non-Catholic brother had expressed his wish to undergo cremation. He knew that what would take centuries for the flesh and bones to completely turn into dust could be short-cut by the crematory burner within three hours.
The Church has unmasked its own wishy-washy behavior vis-à-vis the disposal of human cadavers. She used to forbid cremation. In fact, in 1917, the Code of Canon law banned Church funeral for the cremated.
In 1963, the Vatican lifted the prohibition against cremation but did not encourage the practice. It was only in 1983 when the revised Canon law explicitly allowed cremation as second choice of final disposition for dead Catholics.
The history of cremation dates as far back as 25 BC in Rome. The crude way then called for burning the remains over ignited firewood.
In the process of modern-day cremation, the deceased (with all garments and jewelry removed) is placed into the cremation chamber lined with fire-resistant bricks. Next, the chamber door is closed to initiate the burning process at 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit. After the cremated remains are cooled, they are swept from the chamber and placed on a work area. Bone fragments are placed into a cylindrical processor and further crushed into small, uniform fragments. The cremated remains, weighing between four and 10 pounds, are placed in an urn selected by the family.
As practiced legally in the Philippines, the ashes in the urn may be buried in a cemetery, placed in a niche within a mausoleum or columbarium, scattered at sea or private property, or retained at home.
The proponents of early crematories were Protestant clergymen concerned with hazardous health conditions around cemeteries.
There are religions that practice cremation as a preferred means of final disposition over burial. The Hindus and Buddhists have all been embracing cremation for centuries in firm belief that it’s the soul, not the body, that survives death in a different form.
It’s only the Muslims and Orthodox Jews who cannot be cremated because they believe that the body is “sacred”. Rabbinical sanctions would have to be given in the case of Orthodox Jews. However, another Jewish group who call themselves “Reformed Jews” practice cremation; and the taboo seems to have be lifted as they are the fastest growing group now choosing cremation as a means of final disposition./PN
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