Church responds to proposed ‘ashes’ bylaw

by TERESA WACKROW
With the Auckland Council’s proposed bylaw covering cemeteries and crematoria, debate has arisen over the scattering of ashes. It is timely to consider the mind of the Church in relation to cremation.
Since 1963, the Church has given permission for Catholics to be cremated and it is Catholic practice to treat a person’s ashes as we would the body, namely as a primary symbol of the
person, and so due honour and respect.
In the Church’s funeral liturgy the body of the deceased is reverenced by the sprinkling with holy water and being incensed. This is a reminder that the Church’s concern for the dignity of
human life is seamless: from conception to being laid to rest. How we treat those who are dying, the bodies of those who have died and the support we give to those who mourn is a sign of how we cherish life.
As Christians we do not believe that death is the end of the human person, and we live “in confident hope that one day God will raise us and transform our mortal bodies” (Rite for the Burial of Ashes, excerpt from the England and Wales Order of Christian Funerals). With this belief we show care and reverence for the mortal remains of those who have gone before us.
It is the Church’s expectation that human ashes are buried or interred, not scattered. Although it is acknowledged that many who do scatter ashes try to do so with reverence, the burial of ashes is more in conformity with the traditional Catholic funeral practice; and is more expressive of our belief in the resurrection of the dead. Although there is no particular place where ashes are required to be buried, it is the intention of both the Church and the state (Burial and Cremation Act 1964, s.51) that wherever ashes are buried, they
will remain there.
The Catholic Church provides a simple rite for the burial or interment of ashes. This rite can be led by a lay person. The structure is as follows: Invitation to Prayer, Scripture Reading,
Prayer of Committal, The Lord’s Prayer, Blessing.
There is no set time by which the ashes must be interred, but it is best, for the sake of reverence for the mortal remains of the deceased, that they be buried sooner rather than later. That
said, getting family members together for a final service will sometimes be diffi cult. Two dates commend themselves — although clearly the burial can take place at any time: the first is on the month’s mind: a month after the person died; the second is a year after death,
on the first anniversary of the death.
Teresa Wackrow is the head of Auckland diocesan Liturgy Centre.