Pope’s Doctrine Czar Stirs Controversy on Cremation, by Jules Gomes

By Jules Gomes, Church Militant, December 13, 2023

Laity slam Vatican watchdog for reversing burial disciplines

Cdl. Gerhard Müller. Screenshot

VATICAN CITY (ChurchMilitant.com) – The Vatican’s doctrine watchdog has sparked fresh controversy over the practice of cremation after issuing a new ruling on preserving the ashes of cremated bodies.

The note published Tuesday by Cdl. Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, was signed by Pope Francis and overturns a 2016 ban on reserving the deceased’s ashes at home or dividing them among family members.

Catholics opposed to cremation are hitting back at the new ruling, citing earlier magisterial teaching from popes, councils and canon law, which categorically forbade cremation on pain of the most severe ecclesiastical penalties, including excommunication. …

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