Christian Duty to Bury the Dead and its Contemporary Challenges
Abstract
The custom of burying the dead is not merely commonly accepted by Christianity the way of disposal of the human body after the death. It is most deeply rooted and perfectly expressing Christian anthropology, revealed in the Holy Scriptures as a consequence of original sin, sign of hope in the Resurrection, and imitation of Christ, who was buried in the tomb. In Catholic view the burial is a corporal work of mercy, act of care for the dead and their loved ones. Gaining popularity the practice of cremation is accepted by the Church for the sake of hygiene, economy, or community. Human remains, also in the form of ashes, always must be buried or placed in the columbarium. Church does not allow the human body to be disposed via resomation or promession. Alternative forms of memorializing the deceased, though attractive esthetically and sentimentally, are not only outlandish in Christian culture, but also contrary to the Christian teaching on origins, nature, and destination of the human person.
Keywords:
mortuary practice, burial, funeral, cremation, resomation, promession, ecologyReferences
Aiken L., Dying, Death, and Bereavement, Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers 2001.
Allen C., Hauser M., Concept Attribution in Nonhuman Animals. Theoretical and Methodological Problems in Ascribing Complex Mental Processes, in: Bekoff M., Jamieson D. (ed.), Readings in Animal Cognition, London-Cambridge: The MIT Press 1999, p. 47-62.
Bartrop P., A Biographical Encyclopedia of Contemporary Genocide. Portraits of Evil and Good, Santa Barbara-Denver-Oxford: ABC-CLIO, LLC 2012.
Brooks W., Mora C. (and others), Coal and Ancient Man. Cremation at the Tschudi Burn, Chan Chan, Northern Peru, in: Stracher G., Prakash A., Sokol E. (ed.), Coal and Peat Fires. A Global Perspective, vol. 1: Coal - Geology and Combustion, Amsterdam-Boston-Heidelberg-London-New York-Oxford-Paris-San Diego-San Francisco-Singapore-Sydney-Tokyo: Elsevier 2011, p. 63-81.
Buechner H., Bernhart W., Hitler's Ashes. Seeds of a New Reich, Metairie: Thunderbird Press, Inc. 1989.
Code of Canon Law: Latin–English Edition, New English Translation, Washington: Canon Law Society of America 1983.
Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, Instruction “Ad resurgendum cum Christo” regarding the burial of the deceased and the conservation of the ashes in the case of cremation, AAS 108 (2016), p. 1288-1292.
Davidson D., Introducing “The Tattoo Project”, in: Davidson D. (ed.), The Tattoo Project. Commemorative Tattoos, Visual Culture, and the Digital Archive, Toronto: Canadian Scholars, 2016, p. 1-17.
Davies D., Kent E., Keizer H., Introduction, in: Davies D., Mates L. (ed.), Encyclopedia of Cremation, London-New York: Routledge, Tylor & Francis Group 2016, p. XVII-XXVII.
Eisenberg R., The JPS Guide to Jewish Traditions, Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society 2004.
Eisenstein J., Coffin, in: Singer I., Adler C. (ed.), The Jewish Encyclopedia. A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day, vol. 4, New York-London: Funk and Wagnalls Company 1916.
Ghoshal M., Boatwriter P., Malika M., Curvature From All Angles. Integrative Review and Implications for Product Review, in: Batra R., Seifert C., Brei D. (ed.), The Psychology of Design. Creating Consumer Appeal, New York-London: Routledge 2016, p. 91-106.
Ginsberg R., Creativity and Culture, in: Mitias M. (ed.), Creativity in Art, Religion, and Culture, Amsterdam: Rodopi B.V. 1985, p. 98-106.
Goldman J., Death rituals in the animal kingdom, https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20120919-respect-the-dead [accessed: 28 II 2020].
Hart A., Casper S., Potential groundwater pollutants from cemeteries, Bristol: Environment Agency 2004.
Hastings J., Keeping a body together vs. relics, https://www.stbensduluth.org/blog/fr-joel-hastings/keeping-a-body-together-vs-relics [accessed: 13 II 2020].
Holy Office, Instruction ”Piam et constantem”, on cremation, 5 VI 1963, AAS 56 (1964), p. 822-823.
Interdicasterial Commission, Catechism of the Catholic Church, Citta del Vaticano: Libreria Editrice Vaticana 1994.
International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ed.), Order of Christian Funeral, Including Appendix 2: Cremation, Approved for the Use Dioceses of the United States of America by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and Confirmed by the Apostolic See, Totowa: Catholic Book Publishing Corp. 1998.
International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ed.), Pastoral Care of the Sick, Rites of Anointing and Viaticum, Approved by the United State Conference of Catholic Bishops and Confirmed by the Apostolic See, New York: Catholic Book Publishing Co. 1983.
Laqueur T., The Work of the Dead. A Cultural History of Mortal Remains, Princeton: Princeton University Press 22018.
Lasnoski K., Are Cremation and Alkaline Hydrolysis Morally Distinct?, National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly 16.2 (Summer 2016), p. 233-242.
Leuchter M., Preface, in: Ziolkowska-Boehm A., Polish Hero Roman Rodziewicz. Fate of a Hubal Soldier in Auschwitz, Buchenwald, and Postwar England, trans. C. Zakrzewski, Lanham-Boulder-NewYork-Toronto-Plymouth: Lexington Books 2013, p. XV-XVIII.
Little B., The environmental toll of cremating the dead, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2019/11/is-cremation-environmentally-friendly-heres-the-science/ [accessed: 19 II 2020].
Longerich P., Heinrich Himmler, trans. J. Noakes, L. Sharpe, Oxford-New York: Oxford University Press, 2012, p. 3.
Mansour E., The Obligation to Bury the Deceased, https://itorah.com/lecture/audio/rabbi-eli-mansour/the-obligation-to-bury-the-deceased/1953/6 [accessed: 16 I 2020].
Mariaca-Sullivan K., When a Loved One Dies. The Complete Guide to Preparing A Dignified and Meaningful Goodbye, Amherst: Madaket Lane Publishers 2011.
Mathijssen B., Venhors C., Funerary Practices in the Netherlands, Bingley: Emerald Publishing Limited 2019.
McCane B., Roll Back the Stone. Death and Burial in the World of Jesus, Harrisburg-London-New York: Trinity Press International 2003.
McClelland N., Encyclopedia of Reincarnation and Karma, Jefferson-London: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers 2010.
Miller B., Berger S., A Beginner's Guide to the End. Practical Advice for Living Life and Facing Death, New York-London-Toronto-Sydney-New Delhi: Simon & Schuster 2019.
Noble A., Cremation. A Brief History, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CG1x775lOs [accessed: 12/03/2020].
Pacholczyk T., Can I Donate My Body to Science?, https://www.ncbcenter.org/files/2815/0006/0577/MSOB144_Can_I_Donate_My_Body_to_Science.pdf [accessed: 13 II 2020].
Pope Francis, Address of His Holiness Pope Francis to Participants at the World Congress of the International Association of Penal Law, Sala Regia, Friday, 15 XI 2019, http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2019/november/documents/papa-francesco_20191115_diritto-penale.html [accessed: 16 I 2020].
Pope Francis, Encyclical Letter “Laudato si’” (24 V 2015), AAS 107 (2015), p. 847-945.
Pope Francis, Post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation “Querida Amazonia”, http://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20200202_querida-amazonia.html [accessed: 20 II 2020].
Pope Francis, The Works of Mercy, Maryknoll: Orbis Books 2017.
Quigley C., The Corpse. A History, Jefferson-London: McFarland & Company Inc., Publishers 32015.
Regi A., When did the veneration of relics begin?, https://www.catholicfocus.in/when-did-the-veneration-of-relics-begin/ [accessed: 13 II 2020].
Reville W., Which to choose, burial or cremation?, https://www.irishtimes.com/news/science/which-to-choose-burial-or-cremation-1.3355960 [accessed: 20 II 2020].
Riechers A., Strange Eternity. Virtual Memorials, Grief, and Entertainment, in: Staudt C., Ellens J. (ed.), Our Changing Journey to the End. Reshaping Death, Dying, and Grief in America, vol. 1, New Paths of Engagement, Santa Barbara-Denver-Oxford: ABC-CLIO 2013, p. 207-226.
Robinson W., Cremation and urn-burial, or The cemeteries of the future, London-Paris-New York-Melbourne: Cassel & Company, Limited 1889.
Schmidt A., Cremation, Embalmment, or Neither? A Biblical/Christian Evaluation, Bloomington: WestBow Press 2015.
Schmitt B., Washington L. (and others), The Concise A to Z Guide to Finding It in the Bible, Grand Rapids: Baker Publishing Group 22013.
Sloane D., Is the Cemetery Dead?, Chicago-London: University of Chicago Press 2018.
Spellman F., Handbook of Environmental Engineering, Boca Raton: CRC Press 2015.
The Roman Missal, Renewed by Decree of the Most Holy Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, Promulgated by Authority of Pope Paul VI and Revisited at the Direction of Pope John Paul II, English Translation to the Third Typical Edition, For Use in the Dioceses of the United States of America, Approved by the United State Conference of Catholic Bishops and Confirmed by the Apostolic See, Totowa: Catholic Book Publishing Corp. 2011.
Thompson H., Cremation. The Treatment of the Body After Death, London: Smith, Elder, & Co. 31884.
Westen D., Psychology. Mind, Brain, & Culture, Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons Inc. 21998.
Zohn E., A Strong Obligation, http://teamshabbos.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Mes-Mitzvah-in-Our-Times-002.pdf [accessed: 16 I 2020].
n/a
Priest of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Norwich, CT in United States. In 1999 graduated from Metropolitan Higher Seminary „Hosianum” in Olsztyn, Poland. In 2014 obtained a doctorate degree in theology, at Faculty of Theology in the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Poland, based on the dissertation: The Contemporary American Conservatism as the Expression of the Acknowledgement of Fundamental Values. Study in Moral Theology. He is interested in social moral theology, bioethics, and correlation between culture and religion. He serves as a parish priest, visiting clergy at long term health care facilities and chaplain of the Knights of Columbus. Mailing address: tadeuszzadorozny@yahoo.com
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1067-5103License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 4.0 International License.
