By Rev Fr Joachim Omolo Ouko, AJ

John Maritim writes: “Hello Father, Kenneth Matiba had a will that his body be burned. Is this issue of cremation allowed in the Catholic Church, and what will be done with the ashes or bones remaining?” Although Catholics do not favor cremation because they believe in resurrection of the body after death, following the custom of burying the dead, as Jesus Christ was buried in a tomb, the attitude of the Church has changed in the recent years. It does not prohibit the process of cremation unless it is chosen as a way to deny the Christian teaching on Resurrection and reverence of the human body.
This position has now been codified in the Revised Code of Canon Law: "The Church earnestly recommends that the pious custom of burial be retained; but it does not forbid cremation, unless this is chosen for reasons which are contrary to Christian teaching." (The Code of Canon Law, 1985, #1176.3); Consequently, the 1917 Code of Canon Law strictly forbade cremation, except in times of natural disaster, plague, or other public necessities that required fast disposition of the bodies. Later, though, it was modified to allow cremations if they were required by the law or some other reason not driven by a sectarian spirit.
The argument was based on the fact that to rise with Christ, we must die with Christ: we must “be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Cor 5:8). However, during the intervening years, the practice of cremation has notably increased in many countries. It was argued further that through his death and resurrection, Christ freed us from sin and gave us access to a new life, “so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Rm 6:4). Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor 15:20-22).
It is true that Christ will raise us up on the last day; but it is also true that, in a certain way, we have already risen with Christ. In Baptism, actually, we are immersed in the death and resurrection of Christ and sacramentally assimilated to him: “You were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead” (Col 2:12). United with Christ by Baptism, we already truly participate in the life of the risen Christ (cf. Eph 2:6).
Because of Christ, Christian death has a positive meaning. The Christian vision of death receives privileged expression in the liturgy of the Church. By death the soul is separated from the body, but in the resurrection God will give incorruptible life to our body, transformed by reunion with our soul.

Therefore, by burying the bodies of the faithful, the Church confirms her faith in the resurrection of the body, and intends to show the great dignity of the human body as an integral part of the human person whose body forms part of their identity.
In circumstances when cremation is chosen because of sanitary, economic or social considerations, this choice must never violate the explicitly-stated or the reasonably inferable wishes of the deceased faithful, even though the Church raises no doctrinal objections to this practice, since cremation of the deceased’s body does not affect his or her soul, nor does it prevent God, in his omnipotence, from raising up the deceased body to new life. In the absence of motives contrary to Christian doctrine, the Church, after the celebration of the funeral rite, accompanies the choice of cremation, providing the relevant liturgical and pastoral directives, and taking particular care to avoid every form of scandal or the appearance of religious indifferentism.
When, for legitimate motives, cremation of the body has been chosen, the ashes of the faithful must be laid to rest in a sacred place, that is, in a cemetery or, in certain cases, in a church or an area, which has been set aside for this purpose, and so dedicated by the competent ecclesial authority. For the reasons given above, the conservation of the ashes of the departed in a domestic residence is not permitted. Only in grave and exceptional cases dependent on cultural conditions of a localized nature, may the Ordinary, in agreement with the Episcopal Conference or the Synod of Bishops of the Oriental Churches, concede permission for the conservation of the ashes of the departed in a domestic residence. Nonetheless, the ashes may not be divided among various family members and due respect must be maintained regarding the circumstances of such a conservation.