Do any denominations actually oppose cremations and/or autopsies of their members?
I attend a Church of Christ congregation, and I have overheard conversations between older members about these topics. They were against both practices. It is not “official church policy” to be against cremation or autopsies, but I thought it interesting that some members would take the “anti-” position on such practices.
Any information would be appreciated!
Orthodox and Conservative Judaism are opposed to cremation, mainly because it is considered disrespectful to the dead. Cite. The Holocaust has also hurt the image of cremation among Jews.
For the same reason, those branches of Judaism also oppose autopsies that are done for no good reason. However, organ donation is acceptable to almost all Jews, because the obligation to save lives ranks higher than the obligation to respect the dead.
Eastern Orthodoxy is opposed to both. We believe that one’s body is part of who one is, just as one’s mind and soul are, and so things like cremation, embalming, and autopsies are desecrations of the body, and so disrespectful to the person.
Organ donation is ok, though, both because it can save a life, and because (theoretically) the organ is still going to be buried when the recipient dies. Some Orthodox theologians, though, have been opposed to heart transplants, as the heart is considered to be literally the seat of the soul, and so a heart transplant would be like grafting on a piece of the donor’s soul to the recipient’s. This is a minority opinion, though.
I can’t speak with authority as to the current situation in the Roman Catholic church now, but when I was a member in the 1960s and 1970s, cremation was forbidden.
I will also state that this is what I was told by my priests, and didn’t necessarily have the backing of the church, but I was told that this was the official view by them. Discussion in the matter was closed. That was the law.
I don’t know if things have changed since, though, FWIW. Perhaps some practicing Roman Catholics could give a more current take on this.
Absolutely no problem cremating Catholics these days. Certainly not in the UK & Ireland, at any rate.
My old mum always wanted to be cremated - after she had died, that is - because she had a terrible dread of being buried alive (but apparently no fear of being burnt alive …) and we were happy to oblige. The cremation took place in Wales but we took her ashes back to Ireland to be interred in the family plot. Nobody over there batted an eyelid, including the priest who must have been about 85. I have just seen that cremation accounts for about 5% of funerals in Ireland these days, but I would guess that only a small number of them would be Catholics. There is a crematorium in Glasnevin cemetery in Dublin and planning consent has recently been granted for a second to be built on Rocky Island in Cork harbour.
For the official Catholic position, the current Code of Canon Law makes it clear that burial is still to be considered the more appropriate option but that cremation is no longer forbidden, unless motivated by the “wrong” reasons:
Canon 1176(1): 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.
This position is echoed in the Catechism:
Paragraph 2301: Autopsies can be morally permitted for legal inquests or scientific research. The free gift of organs after death is legitimate and can be meritorious. The Church permits cremation, provided that it does not demonstrate a denial of faith in the resurrection of the body.
In my experience, having sung at many Catholic funerals, burial is still the norm.
According to Wikipedia Bahá’í, Eastern Orthodox Church, Islam, Orthodox Judaism, Zoroastrianism, and Neoconfucionism all prohibit cremation.
LDS discourages it; “Morman Doctrine” (authoritative but not really doctrine) calls it an “abomination”.
I believe the official Catholic dogma since Vatican II is that cremation is OK but the ashes must be buried.
From the Baha’i Holy text, the Kitab-i-Aqdas, note 149 “Shoghi Effendi, in a letter written on his behalf explained that the significance of this provision was to show respect for the human body which was once exalted by the immortal soul of man.”
"Autopsies can be morally permitted for legal inquests or scientific research. The free gift of organs after death is legitimate and can be meritorious.
The Church permits cremation, provided that it does not demonstrate a denial of faith in the resurrection of the body."
The 1983 Code of Canon Law says, “The Church earnestly recommends 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” (1176).
I can’t speak for all Catholic officials of course, but basically this is what we were told last year. We had to discuss just this very issue when my mother passed away. The parish priest had visited her in the hospital when we knew she was dying, and we discussed burial options with him then to make sure we didn’t do anything wrong. We’d heard varying opinions, ranging from cremation wasn’t OK at all, that it was OK but there had to be an intact body for the funeral mass (cremation had to be done afterward), to OK but the ashes must be buried (what we were told by the parish priest).
I got the impression that some of the details might be enforced differently from priest to priest (e.g. body required at funeral) but that in general cremation was a nonproblem. We did ask about disposal of some of the ashes in an alternative manner (my mother had asked us if we could, to try to scatter a bit in a pleasant outdoor area she loved). Our priest said something like “As long as it’s respectful, and you don’t tell me about it” with a wink. The funeral home helped us out with that, so a bit of Mom spent the funeral in my purse (yes, it was a bit weird-feeling).