Q.  Can Catholics Be Cremated?

A.  The practice of burying the body goes back to early Christian times.  For centuries cremation was expressly forbidden in the Church because of the belief that the body is the temple of the Holy Sprit, as well as the belief in the resurrection of the body.  Cremation was seen as a pagan practice that denied the doctrine of the Resurrection.  In 1963, the Vatican lifted the ban on cremation for Catholics.  In doing so, the Church allowed cremation in certain circumstances provided the reasons for choosing it did not counter Christian belief.

However, no allowances were made for any prayer or rituals to be used with the cremated remains.  This meant all funeral services were to occur in the presence of the body, with cremation taking place afterwards.  On March 21, 1997, this changed.   The Vatican granted permission for the cremated remains of a body to be brought into church for the liturgical rites of burial.  It is still, however, the Church's preference to have the full compliment of funeral rites take place with the body present and then have cremation afterwards.