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Vatican bans cremation ash scattering

25 ottobre 2016 | 19.02
LETTURA: 2 minuti

Vatican bans cremation ash scattering

Catholics cannot keep the ashes of cremated loved ones at home, scatter or divide them among family members, or turn them into mementoes, the Vatican has announced in new guidelines.

Ashes must be stored in a sacred place, such as a cemetery, according to rules issued on Tuesday by the Vatican's powerful doctrinal watchdog, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

"It is not permitted to scatter the ashes of the faithful departed in the air, on land, at sea or in some other way, nor may they be preserved in mementos, pieces of jewellery or other objects."

The Roman Catholic Church Still prefers burial and "because it shows a greater esteem towards the deceased" and faith about resurrection, say the guidelines which were approved by Pope Francis in March.

"Following the most ancient Christian tradition, the Church insistently recommends that the bodies of the deceased be buried in cemeteries or other sacred places," the guidelines state.

"In memory of the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord, the mystery that illumines the Christian meaning of death, burial is above all the most fitting way to express faith and hope in the resurrection of the body."

And anyone who leaves instructions before death requesting that their ashes be scattered "for reasons contrary to the Christian faith" may be denied a Catholic funeral, warn the guidelines issued ahead of All Souls’ Day on 2 November.

The Catholic Church first legalised cremation in 1963 but has always frowned on the practice, which is gaining popularity in Italy where cemeteries are overcrowded and burial costly.

Just over one-fifth of people who died in 2015 were cremated, up from 19 percent in 2014, according to Italy's association of crematoriums.

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