Church guidance
needed on cremation

No doubt about it anymore. The trend nowadays, including among Catholic faithful is cremation. It has become increasingly popular.

But I also noticed a lot of confusion about it. The issue whether it is an admissible form of disposing of the body, already acceptable by church authorities. It did not help me any, when, at the cremation of my adopted brother, Rene Espina, I asked the priest who solemnized the requiem mass before his body was burned whether it was an accepted Catholic practice.

The answer provided that the ashes are interred in consecrated ground. Still, that left me uneasy. Of course, I could not reject his last wishes. That was his preferred "disposal" as that of his late mother, Lina Espina-Moore, my father's younger sister.

No doubt about it. The Church had always emphasized respect for the moral remains of human beings. The point is to consider the dignity of the person.

This Christian tradition of burning the dead dates back to the early Church. This is confirmed by the burial graves in the catacombs. Although, at the time, the Romans practiced cremation of the dead.

But Charlemagne imposed the obligation by interment, burial. He also prohibited the "pagan custom" of burning the dead under the pain of capital punishment. The French Revolution, however, campaigned against interment. And espoused cremation.

This soon spread throughout Europe. And the main argument was economic or financial. It was much easier to burn a dead person than to transport his remains. Or, as often point out today, it is actually cheaper to have the remains cremated than to invest in plots in private or public cemeteries. The latter, incidentally, are already overcrowded.

Then came the other arguments. Cremation prevents the spread of epidemics. And it is cleaner, the loved one can just place the ashes of their loved ones in urns and continue to remember them in the sanctuary of their bedrooms or sala of their homes.

In short, convenient.

In 1963, however, the Vatican responded with an answer to the many requested for cremation. The principal argument was hygiene.

Vatican Council came up with a recommendation that the "pious burying of the body of the deceased be preserved, without prohibiting cremation." But it also added that "Ecclesiastical funerals are expressly denied those who chose that their bodies be cremated for reasons contrary to Church Christian faith."

In fact, the Church prohibits funeral masses with only the ashes of the deceased believer present.

Still, that did not solve the confusion. Is cremation banned? Is it permissible under ordinary circumstances?

As earlier pointed out, there is no arguing that it costs only P21,000 for a cremation. On the other hand, the cost of a cemetery lot (private memorial parks) had become prohibitive.

Thus, some have resorted to the simple formula of having the urn containing the ashes of their loved ones deposited either in their home altars or elsewhere. Some even have them planed inside niches.

But then, there are also those who simply "out of respect to the wishes of their loved ones, sprinkle the ashes on the sea or the fields or forest."

Somehow, this is something that our pastors must be able to provide clear guidance to the believers. Not leave to our own devices.

There's already too much confusion.

****

I'm not blaming Ed Guillem for what happened the other day - the four-hour blackout that gripped the entire Visayas grid.

But what I was pointing out is the need for the CENECO officials to brief our Bacolod officialdom on what steps they have taken to avoid similar disruptions in the future. It is inevitable. And, Ceneco, by now, must have already the necessary standby power or generator to take up the slack.

I think it is time for our local officials to bring the issue to the attention of our CENECO board. And tackle with them anticipatory remedies to avert similar episodes in the future, precisely because of the threat that we could lose our investors.*

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