Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1885-12-27
CREMATION AND CATHOLICISM.
The New Way of Disposing OF the Dead
cred AID Criticised

Considered Hhu Sril'S'ee"'
american Catholic Rsri|r
To the Ca!Lohc there ia no heart in o
Protestant, funeral. There IS a hurry 10
pur The uFousive corpse out OF sight, INC
then 10 forget all about il But the old
churcn holds on TO bier dead with an eternal
affection. The dead body is the oooy OF
her enid; il is sacred flesh. 1t has been
,be temple of a regeperate soul, she
blessed il in baptism, poured the saving
waters OIL It's head, snointed 1t With holy oil
on The breast and back. Put the blessed
salt on its lips, and touched lis nose aud
esrs in oeuedlction when 1t was only Inc
flesh ora babe; and then in growing youth
reconsecrsred i, by confirmation; and De
fore iTs dissolution in dearh, she again
blessed and sanctifed its organs, its HANDS
AEd lis feet, as we'll as its more important
members, Even death she blesses II with
holy water, and incenses it before her altar
amid the great sacrifice OF the new law,
and surrounded by mourners who reJolce
even in their Gears, Tor they believe in the
communion Of saints, and are united IN
PRAYER with the dead happy i'll heaven, as
well az With those who are temporarily
sufisriLf IN p~urgatory. IN short, they
keep up not only the idea of human i'm
mortality and Of the communion OF the
living with the dead, but that the immortal
Of the dead is still associated, and even
identified, with the mortal after that mortal
has been resolved into its original elements
Hence the frequent visits 10 the graves OF
the departed, und the selection OF the grave
as the appropriate place to CHER prayers TOT
the rest Of their souls.
The around in which the bodies OF the
faithful ore 10 repose has ever been an OBJ
iect of the churchs special legislation.
She has riven it the sweet name OF cemetery
or dormitory, because the bodies sleeping
In it are one day to rise. In the early
ages an7 decent place served for the burial
OF Christians, and during the ages OF per.
s~ecution it was difficult TO set apart and
bless special cemeteries for them but
now, and for centuries, q Catholic cemetery
is that place alone set apart and so!emnly
blessed By the authority Of the bishop for
The burial Of The faithful" No Chris
tians'' says the Roman ritual, DYING IN the
communion of the faithful should be buried
out of the church or cemetery properly
blessed, but If necessity compel, and II for
some reason the body should be temporarily
buried elsewhere, care must be taken to
have it transferred TO a holy place as soon
az possible, and 10 the meantime q cross
should be erected OF ths head Of the grave
to +ignity that the departed rests in Christ. ~
VINO are exclued from Christian
burialy The Roman ritual this
question as follows: "Pagans, Jews and
all inidsls, heretics and their sbettors,
apostates from the Christian faith, schisma.
lic3 aud persons publicly stricken with
major accommodation, persons lnterdlct'
ed by nam and those liviGg il an inter
dic.cd place while the interdict lssta. sur
cideg. unless it can be shown that they are
insane, or unless they give signs Of repent,
ance. pubi.c sinners who die uurepeutant,
children dying without baptism, and those
who are plblicly known to have neglected
10 receive The sacrament OF pensnoe and
Tie eucharist Cnce q year, and who have
given no signs Of contririon before death. y
j is said that mo part Of church legisla'
ZION has been more bitterly attacked in
modern times than this regarding the
sanctityan and exclusiveness otthe cemetery,
md it 10 no doubt equally true that no part
has been defended with greater zeal or ad'
hered to with greater ~partinacity. The
idea underlying oil this seems TO be that
BODIES If the dead are contaminated By
Dr contact with common clay, whether in
rLe form. Of ordinary earth, Or in hat Of
he ooiies OF those who have died outside
the pale Of the church aud that such con-
~tamination units them Tor heaven, pro-
longs their stay in purgatory or something
OF that sort, lust what is not stated. Bat
how about cremafiou2 Can the Catholic
Church tolerate it, The answer TO these
. questions is: She could il she wished.
she has the right Of eminent domain over
. her own discipline.
If q dying Catholic wished to be crsmat
ed instead Of inhumed, aud insisted upon
postmortem inc!neratiOn, O priest could
not give to him the sacr7ments, because
he would bs ia q condition OF wllltul in.
suUOrciua,iou 10 clmich law aud discip.
line Cremation is contrary 10 all her
traditions bud to all her legislation regard
mo Christian burial,