According to new guidelines from the Vatican's doctrinal office, cremated remains should be kept in a “sacred place” such as a church cemetery. Ashes should not be divided up between family members, “nor may they be preserved in mementos, pieces of jewelry or other objects.”
The Church no longer opposes cremation, but it does offer guidelines on how the ashes should be cared for following cremation. To preserve the sanctity of the body, the Church says ashes cannot be scattered or divided among family members.
Your loved one's ashes don't have to stay together either. Families can choose to split the ashes of the deceased among the wider family, where the individual families can choose what they want to do with them.
Here are the top cremation myths and what the Catholic church has to say about them. Cremated ashes can be scattered. Though the Pope and the Church approve of cremation, scattering of one's ashes is strictly prohibited.
Do you need to split the remains of a deceased loved one? You certainly can! There are several regulations governing ash spreading, but none governing ash division. Following a loved one's cremation, some families prefer to split the ashes.
As you can see, dividing ashes after cremation is actually a fairly common practice. It can be a way to help each family member grieve, remember, and honor their loved one in a special way. It can help avoid conflict or settle disagreements. And it can simply be what the departed loved one wanted.
The law considers ashes to be the same as a body, so is unwilling to rule for separating them amongst different parties.
Nor can the ashes be scattered in the air, land or sea since doing so would give the appearance of "pantheism, naturalism or nihilism," the guidelines said. It repeated church teaching that Catholics who choose to be cremated for reasons contrary to the Christian faith must be denied a Christian funeral.
Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are obligatory days of fasting and abstinence for Catholics. In addition, Fridays during Lent are obligatory days of abstinence. For members of the Latin Catholic Church, the norms on fasting are obligatory from age 18 until age 59.
In the Bible, there are no passages that prohibit or encourage cremation and scattering of ashes. However, many Christian sects believe a burial funeral aligns with best end-of-life practices.
Cremation occurs at such a hot temperature all micro-organisms are destroyed, and the remaining ashes are inert. After cremation there are no public health risks associated with handling ashes.
No, people's remains cannot get mixed up with other people's remains in a cremation chamber. Although some people have been under the impression that two people's cremated remains can get mixed up during the Longboat Key, FL cremation process, this is never going to happen.
A common question that we find in the cremation diamond industry is do ashes have an expiration date? The short answer is they don't; at least not in our lifetime. It would take around one million years for ashes to dissolve since they are made solely of inorganic material.
While the Catholic Church continues to prefer burial in the ground, it accepts cremation as an option, but forbids the scattering of ashes and the growing practice of keeping cremated remains at home, said Cardinal Gerhard Muller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Ash Wednesday is not a Holy Day of Obligation for Roman Catholics, yet receiving ashes is a universal practice among Christians to begin their Lenten journeys. Most Catholic parishes offer Ash Wednesday Mass, and in some places, it is possible to receive ashes without attending Mass.
There's nothing wrong with keeping a loved one's ashes in the house.
There is no requirement to keep ashes on the forehead all day or for any period of time after they are given, but many Christians choose to keep them on their foreheads throughout the day on Ash Wednesday.
On this special day of reflection, Catholics wear a marking of the cross in ash on their foreheads. The ashes symbolize our mortality – “Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” But you might be wondering, where do the ashes for Ash Wednesday come from?
The Vatican decreed that the ashes of loved ones have no place in the home, and certainly not in jewelry. It urged that cremated remains be preserved in cemeteries or other approved sacred places.
Cremains contain what is known as rest energy, sometimes referred to as free or dormant energy. This type of energy is still subject to the restraints of natural law, and can have no physical or spiritual impact on those around it.
Also known as commingling, mixing cremated remains is illegal unless it is specifically requested by the deceased. This simply comes down to a matter of personal preference of the deceased. Most cremation chambers will not mix the remains of your loved ones—they'll usually leave that up to the family to do.
Most of the time unclaimed ashes are scattered. But the funeral home has to get approval for the scattering just like the family would. Other funeral homes will bury the remains. They'll usually wait until there are a certain number of remains then bury them together in a mass grave.
Yes, it is generally okay to open an urn. Most say that cremated remains are sterile, so you shouldn't have to worry about your health or safety from opening an urn. There are no legal reasons why an urn can't be opened either unless there is a question of who legally owns the cremains.
Today about half of the people choose cremation and half choose burial. Some choose both. They are cremated and have their cremated remains buried. Regardless of what you decide your choice will be inclusive.
Human ashes do not dissolve in the ocean's waters. However, being a coarse, gritty, sand-like substance, the ashes will scatter throughout the ocean with no negative effects.