Vatican Issues Cremation Guidelines to Counter New Age Culture

The Vatican has issued new guidelines on cremation, saying Catholics should not have their ashes scattered or kept in urns at home. 

A two-page instruction ruling suggests that cremated remains should be kept in a "sacred place" like a cemetery or in a Church-approved sacred place. 

"In order that every appearance of pantheism, naturalism or nihilism be avoided, it is not permitted to scatter the ashes of the faithful departed in the air, on land, at sea or in some other way," the Vatican wrote.

"These courses of action cannot be legitimized by an appeal to the sanitary, social, or economic motives that may have occasioned the choice of cremation."

The Church's goal in clarifying the proper handling of cremated remains is to counter what it calls "ideas contrary to the church's faith," including New Age ideas that death is a "fusion" with Mother Nature and the universe, or the "definitive liberation" from the prison of the body.

It has only been within the last 53 years that the Catholic Church has allowed cremation. For nearly 2,000 years, it only permitted burial, arguing that it best represented the Christian belief in the resurrection. 

The announcement, which Pope Francis actually approved in March, comes a week ahead of All Souls Day on Nov. 2, a day in the Catholic religion that honors the dead. 

The author of the text, Cardinal Gerhard Mueller, also explained the reason for refusing to let family members keep remains of their loved ones at home.

"The dead body isn't the private property of relatives, but rather a son of God who is part of the people of God," Mueller said. "We have to get over this individualistic thinking."