Memory, Identity, and Community: A Creatively Faithful Approach to the Formation of a Theology of Interment (original) (raw)

New Theology Review, 2014

Abstract

While the die is cast regarding the valid inclusion of cremation in Catholic funeral rites and liturgies given that certain required criteria are met, recent years have given rise to a new problematic regard the treatment of cremains, in particular the assignment of a final resting place. Recent statistics attest that approximately two-thirds of cremains are not interred by the family members too whom their care is entrusted. Failure to bury the ashes may not imply a malicious intent on the the part of the faithful who remain; however, such inadvertence implies a lacuna in contemporary thought to articulate a clear theology of interment with sigificant attention to cremains. Specifically, disregard for the importance of the burial of cremains indicates something of a theological void in three specific areas. First, casual treatment of the deceased's ashes indicates a failure to be aware of and understand the connection between Christ's burial and our own, most notably in...

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