Vatican bans Catholics from keeping cremated remains at home

Catholics are forbidden from keeping the ashes of cremated loved ones at home, scattering them, dividing them between family members or turning them into mementoes, the Vatican has ruled.

Ashes must be stored in a sacred place, such as a cemetery, according to instructions disclosed at a press conference in Rome on Tuesday.

The ruling from the Vatican's doctrinal office in Rome forbids ashes to be kept in urns in private homes, as well as the scattering of ashes or dividing the cremated remains among family members. They also may not "be preserved in mementos, pieces of jewelry or other objects."

The guidelines also warn against "new ideas contrary to the church's faith" which the Vatican says have been widespread, identifying pantheism, or the worship of nature, naturalism, the idea that truth is derived not from religion but from nature, and nihilism, skepticism of all truths. It argues that cremation can be seen as an example of each of these anti-Christian beliefs, and if cremation is chosen for any of these reasons, a Catholic funeral ceremony is to be denied the deceased.

Cardinal Gerhard Müller, the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, reiterated that burial of the dead was preferable to cremation.

"We come from the earth and we shall return to the earth," he said. "The church continues to incessantly recommend that the bodies of the dead be buried either in cemeteries or in other sacred ground."

However, the increase in cremation since it was permitted in 1963 required new guidelines, he added, noting an increasing trend for "domestic" conservation.

Ashes must be kept "in a holy place, that is a cemetery or a church or in a place that has been specifically dedicated to this purpose. The conservation of ashes in the home is not allowed," he said.

"Furthermore, in order to avoid any form of pantheistic or naturalistic or nihilistic misunderstanding, the dispersion of ashes in the air, on the ground, on water or in some other way as well as the conversion of cremated ashes into commemorative objects is not allowed."

A bishop may allow ashes to be kept at home only in extraordinary cases, the instructions state.

The Catholic Church grudgingly approves of cremation; in 1963 the Vatican announced burial is preferable but cremation is not "opposed per se to the Christian religion."

The ruling Tuesday identified what it regards as a sacrilegious trend in cremation ceremonies, largely in the United States.