The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1888-05-29
CREMATION AND CATHOLICS.

, A proselyte is generally the worst {
. fanatics. The Rev. Thomas S. Preston
, of New York, has worked himself u
from the lower plane of the Anglican
Church to what is ca led the High
Church, and then has assembled, or de
scended, as different Interpretation
may be put upon it, to Roman Catho
licism.
Notwithstanding that ne titles o
nobility are recognized in this country
the Pope has conferred upon him tina
of "monsignor, by which he is nov
designated.
This ecclesiastical nobleman thu!
figures in recent dispatch from New
York to the Chicago Inter Ocean.
NEW YORK, May "a The body of Elel
Csank, late resident of Long island City.
was cremated, it is said, at Fresh POud al
O'Clock this afternoon. Mr.. Csank was q
Hungarian, a years old, and Roman Cath
Ole. 1t was his last wish that his remains
| should be cIemated.
Mgr Thomas s. Preston told a reporter
last night that no good Catholic won ex-
| press wish that after his death his remains
| should be cremated.
1.-The idea of cremation" said Mgr
Preston, sis abhorrent 10 the practice and
teaching of the Roman Catholic church.
| The custom is an attack upon the doctrine
| of the resurrection. ] he church holds fast
to the sacredness of the body, and teaches
! that the selfsame BODY which is buried shall
rise again. OF course the church has
always taught this, but in view of the talk
| about cremation and the prevalence OF this
mode of diSposing of the dead in certain
quarters, the Sacred Congregation deemed
il wise 10 issue decree condemning the
practice and prohibiting it among tue
Catholics. he decree was issued within
| the last two years, l think. he Able
Gaume. Frenchmsn, wrote book little
while ago, making an argument against
cremation, and had the Eonor of writing q
! preface for the English translation.
If dying Catholic" continu Monsig-
| nor Preston" should express a wish that his
| body should be cremated, he would be in
| formed of the prohibition of the church, of
| course. If he died persiSting in his wish,
and his re atiyes declared that they would
carry the wish into effect, the funeral would
not receive the sanction of the church, ana
| could not be attended with the rites of the
church in any way. No public masses
could be said for the soul of the deceased.
| If the story is true. NJ Csank could not
have been good Catholic
According to this decision, poor Mr..
Csank's body and soul are both in bad
way. If he should be cremated, then
all the time spent at his devotions, and
the Peters pence he has contributed
during his life time, will be dead loss.
! If the body is disposed of according to
the desire of its recent owner, the soul
will be damned. But if Mr.. Csank's
wishes are disregarded, the soul may
be saved at the expense of the
body. The relatives of the deceased
too, are placed ia an awkward predica-
ment, if, as is very probable, their
legacies are dependent upon the execu-
ton of the trust. The question before
them is, shall they lose their money in
order to save Mr.. Csank's soul2 We
imagine that the decision will depend
upon the amount at stake.
Aside from all this, it is deeply
humiliatiDg that a representative OF
any Christian church should give its
sanction to such a puzzle idea as that
cremation is an attack upon the doc
trine of the resurrection.
Beyond the teachings of st. Paul,
that the natural body is raised a spirit
ual body, which is direct contradiction
to the assumption of Mr.. Preston that
1.-The self-same body which is buried
shall rise again." there is not student
of chemistry who does not know
that decomposition is simply a pro-
cess of combustion, and that a
term of years in the grave will
produce precisely the same effects
upon the body that an hour or two in
the furnace will accomplish. In fact.
I cremation is more sure to preserve the
body intact for that resurrection
which Mr.. Preston counts upon, than
burial. If body is cremated and the
ashes put into sufficiently substantial
urn, they may possibly be kept until
the final day; but if body is con-
signed to the grave, it often becomes
the prey OF hyenas and coyotes, who
fatten JPN it. aud part of whose
flesh is incorporated with it. AS there
is no resurrection for animals, a por-
ton or the whole of a mans body is
likely to be lost, and then what be-
comes of its "sacredness?" We should
like to know what the Monsignor thinks
of the interference with the "sacredness
of the body" when it is dissected for
the benefit of medical science. As to
this bigot priest himself, he does not
claim any originality of thought upon
the subject. Hemerely agrees with the
doctrine promulgated by the Sacred
Congregston," and furnishes but one
more illustration of the power of super
stition and of the truth of the saving
that the fools are no all dead"