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| emblem of the Papacy: Triple tiara and keys Français : emblème pontifical Italiano: emblema del Papato Português: Emblema papal. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
For the Vatican their members should know that the church maintains the deceased should be buried. For the Roman Catholic Church cremation is a "brutal destruction" of the body. Though many countries in the West, like Belgium seem to ignore that saying of their pope and allow cremations by their members, though they do not encourage it. And the Catholics got to hear church-approved ways to conserve ashes for the increasing numbers of Catholics who choose cremation "for economic, ecological or other reasons".
The
Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith reports ashes and
bone fragments cannot be kept at home because it would deprive the
Christian community of remembering the dead. Rather, church authorities
should designate a sacred place, such as a cemetery or church area, to
hold them. Only in extraordinary cases can a bishop allow ashes to be
kept at home, it said.
"The dead body isn't the private property of relatives, but rather a son of God who is part of the people of God," author of the text, Cardinal Gerhard Mueller, said. "We have to get over this individualistic thinking."
