Editing Cremation (section)

==== Catholicism ====
Christians preferred to bury the dead rather than to cremate the remains, as was common in [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] culture. The early church carried on Judaism's respect for the human body as being created in God's image, and followed their practices of speedy interment, in hopes of the future resurrection of all dead. The [[Roman catacombs]] and Medieval veneration of [[relics]] of [[Roman Catholic saint]]s witness to this preference. For them, the body was not a mere receptacle for a spirit that was the real person, but an integral part of the human person.<ref>Robert Pasnau, in the introduction to his translation of ''Summa Theologiae'', says that Aquinas is "...quite clear in rejecting the sort of substance dualism proposed by Plato [...] which goes so far as to identify human beings with their souls alone, as if the body were a kind of clothing that we put on," and that Aquinas believed that "we are a composite of soul and body, that a soul all by itself would not be a human being." See {{cite book| last = Aquinas| first = St. Thomas| others = trans. Pasnau| title = Summa Theologiae 1a, 75–89| year = 2002| publisher = Hackett Publishing| isbn = 0-87220-613-0| page = xvii }}</ref> They looked on the body as sanctified by the [[sacrament]]s<ref>Davies & Mates, "Cremation, Death and Roman Catholicism", p. 107</ref> and itself the temple of the Holy Spirit,<ref>{{bibleverse|1|Corinthians|6:19|ESV}}</ref> and thus requiring to be disposed of in a way that honours and reveres it, and they saw many early practices involved with disposal of dead bodies as [[Paganism|pagan]] in origin or an insult to the body.<ref>{{cite book| last = Prothero| first = Stephen| title = Purified by Fire: A History of Cremation in America| year = 2002| publisher = University of California Press| isbn = 0-520-23688-2| pages = 73–74| quote = To the traditionalists, cremation originated among "heathens" and "pagans" and was therefore anti-Christian.}}</ref>

The idea that cremation might interfere with God's ability to resurrect the body was refuted by the 2nd-century ''[[Octavius (dialogue)|Octavius]]'' of [[Marcus Minucius Felix|Minucius Felix]], in which he said: "Every body, whether it is dried up into dust, or is dissolved into moisture, or is compressed into ashes, or is attenuated into smoke, is withdrawn from us, but it is reserved for God in the custody of the elements. Nor, as you believe, do we fear any loss from sepulture, but we adopt the ancient and better custom of burying in the earth."<ref>The full text of ''Octavius'' is available online [http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/ANF-04/anf04-34.htm from ccel.org]. See also Davies & Mates, p. 107-108.</ref> A similar practice of [[Mos Teutonicus|boiling to remove flesh from bones]] was also punished with excommunication in a 1300 decree of [[Pope Boniface VIII]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia| encyclopedia = Catholic Encyclopedia| title = Cremation| publisher = The Encyclopedia Press| url = http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04481c.htm}}</ref> And while there was a clear and prevailing preference for burial, there was no general Church law forbidding cremation until 1866. In [[Medieval Europe]], cremation was practiced mainly in situations where there were multitudes of corpses simultaneously present, such as after a [[battle]], after a [[Epidemic|pestilence]] or [[famine]], and where there was an imminent fear of diseases spreading from the corpses, since individual burials with digging graves would take too long and body decomposition would begin before all the corpses had been interred.

Beginning in the [[Middle Ages]], and even more so in the 18th century and later, non-Christian rationalists and classicists began to advocate cremation again as a statement denying the resurrection and/or the afterlife,<ref>Prothero, p. 74-75</ref> although the pro-cremation movement often took care to address these concerns.<ref name="prothero-p74">Prothero, p. 74.</ref> Sentiment within the Catholic Church against cremation became hardened in the face of the association of cremation with "professed enemies of God."<ref name="prothero-p74" /> When Masonic groups advocated cremation as a means of rejecting Christian belief in the resurrection, the [[Holy See]] forbade Catholics to practise cremation in 1886. The 1917 Code of Canon Law incorporated this ban. In 1963, recognizing that, in general, cremation was being sought for practical purposes and not as a denial of bodily resurrection, the choice of cremation was permitted in some circumstances.<ref name=McNamara>McNamara, Edward (2014). [https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/mixing-ashes-of-the-dead-4718 "Mixing Ashes of the Dead"], EWTN.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rkdocumenten.nl/rkdocs/index.php?mi=600&doc=4933|title=Piam et constantem – Over de crematie – RKDocumenten.nl|website=Rkdocumenten.nl|access-date=3 October 2017}}</ref> The current [[1983 Code of Canon Law]], states: "The Church earnestly recommends the pious custom of Christian burial be retained; but it does not entirely forbid cremation, except if this is chosen for reasons which are contrary to Christian teaching."<ref>[https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P4A.HTM Code of Canon Law, canon 1176 §3] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141008214742/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P4A.HTM |date=8 October 2014 }}; cf.  [https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s2c2a5.htm#2301 ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'', 2301].</ref>

There are no universal rules governing Catholic funeral rites in connection with cremation, but [[episcopal conference]]s have laid down rules for various countries.<ref name=McNamara/> Of these, perhaps the most elaborate are those established, with the necessary confirmation of the Holy See, by the [[United States Conference of Catholic Bishops]] and published as Appendix II of the United States edition of the ''Order of Christian Funerals''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ewtn.com/library/CURIA/CDWCREMA.HTM|title=LITURGICAL NORMS ON CREMATION|website=Ewtn.com|access-date=3 October 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/liturgical-resources/cremation/cremation-and-funerals.cfm|title=USCCB Committee on Divine Worship, "Cremation and the Order of Christian Funerals"|website=Usccb.org|access-date=3 October 2017}}</ref>

Although the Holy See has in some cases authorized bishops to grant permission for funeral rites to be carried out in the presence of cremated remains, it is preferred that the rites be carried out in the presence of a still intact body. Practices perceived as showing insufficient respect for the ashes of the dead, such as turning them into jewelry or scattering them, are forbidden for Catholics, but burial on land or sea or enclosing in a niche or columbarium is now considered acceptable.<ref name=McNamara/>