The Church's teaching in regard to the human body as well as the Church's preference for burial of the body should be a regular part of catechesis on all levels and pastors should make particular efforts to preserve this important teaching. 6 Cremation in General 4. Although the Church earnestly recommends the custom of burying the bodies of the dead it does not forbid cremation. In the case of cremation, the Order of Christian Funerals is to be celebrated in the same way as if the body were to be interred or entombed. What is different when cremation takes place is only the final disposition of the body.
Cremation takes place following the funeral liturgy.
Pastoral sensitivity must be exercised in those circumstances when it is not possible for the body to be present for the Funeral Mass and extraordinary circumstances make the immediate cremation of a body the only feasible choice. The Indult 6. That each diocesan bishop will judge whether it is pastorally proper to celebrate the liturgy for the dead, including the Eucharist, with the ashes present, taking into account the concrete circumstances in each individual case, and in harmony with the spirit and precise content of the current canonical and liturgical norms. In the Archdiocese of Newark, the Archbishop has given delegation to the local pastor to grant permission for the funeral liturgy in the presence of the cremated remains. The pastor must consider the reasons for the request and receive the necessary assurance that the cremated remains will be handled with reverence and will be buried in a grave or entombed in a mausoleum or columbarium.