ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, June 8, 1996 TAG: 9606090014
SECTION: RELIGION PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAVID BRIGGS ASSOCIATED PRESS
No one is saying they should scatter the ashes of deceased family members into the ocean. And Catholics still should forget about keeping the remains in a jar on a fireplace mantle.
But a committee of Catholic bishops says families should no longer have to leave the cremated remains of a loved one outside in the hearse during a funeral Mass.
In an action that addresses one of the most profound mysteries of the Christian faith - how human beings receive eternal life after death - the bishops' Committee on the Liturgy is urging the church to appeal to the Vatican to lift the ban on bringing the ashes of the deceased into church.
This is a faith that distinguished itself from pagan Roman culture in its earliest days by its practice of burying rather than cremating the dead. Now, as a result of changes in American culture, it is being asked to reconsider its insistence on the presence of the body at funeral Masses.
Even the discussion reflects an evolving attitude among many people in the pews who no longer assume an intact body is the best preparation for resurrection.
``If the Lord can resurrect a body, he can certainly get all the parts back together again,'' says Monsignor Alan Detscher, director of the Secretariat for the Liturgy.
The committee's proposal will be presented to the National Conference of Catholic Bishops at its spring meeting June 20-22 in Portland, Ore.
Cremation was forbidden in the Catholic Church until 1963, when allowances were made for the practice in cases of necessity as long as cremation was not chosen as a sign denying belief in the resurrection of the dead.
Today, however, cremation has become more common. In 1990, 17 percent of Catholic funerals involved cremation of the body, and the percentage is expected to rise to more than one in five by 2000.
The reasons for cremation are not theological, but primarily economic, according to church officials.
It is cheaper to cremate a body immediately rather than pay for the casket and other related costs for viewing a body in a funeral home. When older people die in another state, it is also less expensive to have their remains cremated rather than have their bodies brought back for the funeral Mass in their hometown.
The Rev. William Rusch, director of the Faith and Order Commission of the National Council of Churches, said in most mainline Protestant churches permitting the ashes inside at a funeral service would not even be an issue.
And the Catholic Church in Canada and three regional dioceses in the United States already have received permission from the Vatican to allow the practice.
Since the ban has become a source of conflict in many local parishes, the bishops' committee is recommending the change for the entire church in the United States.
Detscher said it is painful for families to leave the remains of their loved one out in the car while the funeral liturgy is celebrated inside. The pain is particularly felt by families of persons who have died from AIDS, where the exclusion of the ashes from church is seen as the ``final blow'' in a long period of suffering and ostracism.
In seeking a change in the rule, ``I think the church is trying to be understanding and compassionate to families,'' said Bishop Donald W. Trautman, chairman of the Liturgy Committee.
But there is a clear preference for burying the body in a grave as Jesus was, or at least for people who choose cremation to wait until after the funeral Mass, the bishops said.
``Christians are unequivocally confronted by this mystery of life and death when faced with the presence of the body of one who has died. That body forcefully brings to mind our belief that our human bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit and destined for future glory at the resurrection of the dead,'' the bishops said. ``In addition, the body which lies in death recalls the personal story of faith, the past relationships and the continued spiritual presence of the deceased persons.''
Also, if cremation is chosen, the bishops said the remains should be treated with respect and entombed in a mausoleum or columbarium, and not scattered in the air or stored casually in the home of a friend or relative.
Two generations ago, Bishop Emil Wcela said, ``the idea was somehow the physical body you have now was going to be reconstituted in a new way.''
As cremation has become more accepted, the thinking has shifted to focus more on the resurrection involving in some mysterious way the identity - not just the physical matter - of the person.
``So much is unknown about this life after death; there is much that the Christian must await in hope,'' the bishops said.
In the long term, it does not matter whether a body is cremated or decomposes naturally.
``Either way,'' Wcela said, ``the body is reduced to ash.''
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