The Columbarium Walls are present at many Catholic Churches.

A columbarium is a structure with niches, or compartments, for urns containing ashes of the dead. In Latin the word means dovecote, reminiscent of a structure that might house doves or homing pigeons. Traditionally graveyards were adjacent to church buildings but this practice is less and less practical in crowded communities of today. The columbarium is a means by which one's remains may be kept in or near his or her parish church as an enduring place of rest.

A Little History

In the 1960s, the church recognized cremation as an alternative to the more traditional and widely accepted burial. Although accepted, creamins continued to be banned from the church. Since 1997 permission has been granted to Bishops to perform funeral masses in the presence of cremains. However, grieving witht eh body present over several days can help people deal with their loss and is recommended.

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Posted by crazycubes

Member since Jan 2016

5256 posts

Posted on 4/27/16 at 1:57 pm to schexyoung

quote:
Although accepted, cremains continued to be banned from the church

I think they can be allowed now...

from USCCB:

quote:
In April 1997, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments granted an indult for the United States to allow the diocesan bishop to permit the presence of the cremated remains of a body at a Funeral Mass. Later that year, the Congregation confirmed the special texts and ritual directives (Prot. n. 1589/96/L for both indult and texts), which were then published as an appendix to the Order of Christian Funerals. Frequently the Secretariat of Divine Worship receives requests for clarification or suggestions for best practices regarding the presence of cremated remains and funerals and their appropriate final disposition or committal.

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