November 11, 1988 The Message -- for Catholics of Southwestern Indiana
, 00uestion Corner
13
Q&A
By FATHER JOHN DIETZEN
NC News Service Columnist
No urn of ashes is present
at Catholic funeral Masses
Dear Father Dietzen:
A few weeks ago you responded to a question
concerning the presence of the urn of ashes after
cremation at a funeral Mass. You stated that to
your "knowledge there is no general rule against
it."
Perhaps you are not familiar with a response
from the Congregation for Divine Worship
(Notitiae, January 1977) stating, "If the body of the
deceased cannot be brought to the church for the
funeral Mass prior to its cremation, the Mass can
be celebrated, but without the ashes of the deceas-
ed present."
We thought it important to bring this to your
attention because your column is widely read and
because this is a very sensitive issue for people to
deal with. Through your column you have been
very helpful in providing solid answers for your
readers.
--Ohio
A. I am grateful to this chancery official, and
officials from several other dioceses, for calling
this to my attention.
The response referred to above explains why a
funeral Mass should not be celebrated with the urn
of ashes present. "It does not seem suitable to
celebrate with the ashes present the rite which is
intended to honor the body of the dead.
-- II J II
Special jubilarians
"This is not to condemn the practice of crema-
tion but rather to respect the integrity of the signs
within the liturgical action. In fact, the ashes
which are an expression of the corruptibility of the
human body are unable to express the inherent
character of one 'sleeping' awaiting the resurrec-
tion.
"The body, not the ashes, receives liturgical
honors since it was the temple of the Spirit of God
in baptism. It is important to respect the verity of
the sign in order that the liturgical catechesis and
the clebration itself be authentic and fruitful."
To repeat, ashes should not be present at the
funeral Mass after cremation. If the body of the
deceased cannot be brought to the church for the
funeral Mass before cremation, a Mass could be
celebrated without :the ashes later.
, Q. I was recently in the hospital after surgery
for,a broken hip. I have been. and still am, a
member of the church since the 1950s. When a
priest comes to hear my confession and bring me
Holy Communion, why is it a pri.est from the
nearest parish? Why not a priest from my own
parish? I'm sure there is a reason but what is it?
--New York
A. In larger communities with several or more
parishes, the nearest parish community serves
I I I I
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Vieke of Vincennes will celebrate their for-
tieth wedding anniversary Saturday, Nov. 26. A reception for
friends and relatives will be held at the American Legion Hall in
Vincennes. Mr. Vieke and the former Mae Dunham were married
Nov. 23, 1948, at St. John Church, Vincennes. They have two
aughters, Patsy Guerrettang of Vincennes and Sandi Vieke of An-
ock, Tenn, and two granddaughters. Mr. Vieke worked as a
salesman for 38 years at J.T. General Store.
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Golden jubilarians
Mr. and Mrs. Othmar W. Schmitt will celebrate their 50th wed-
ding anniversary with a Mass of Thanksgiving on Saturday, Nov.
19, 5:30 p.m. at St. Joseph Church, Jasper. The Mass will be
followed by a dinner for the family and friends at the Knights of
Columbus Home in Jasper. Mr. Schmitt and the former Mary
Frances Sermersheim were married Nov. 15, 1938 at St. Joseph
Church, Jasper. They are the parents of seven children, Sue
Ann, Charles, Ruth Ann Stallman and Patty Kiefer, all of Jasper,
and Paul of Vevay, Ind. John and Laura are deceased. The couple
also has 13 grandchildren. Mr. Schmitt is a retired woodworker
from the Jasper Corporation. He has been an active member of the
St. Joseph Men's Choir for the past 58 years.
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hospitals, nursing homes and similar institutions.
Otherwise, in a large city, like yours for exam-
ple, someone from every parish would need to be
in every institution every day or every week.
Dividing up the work according to location enables
available priests and staff to better serve the pa-
tients and residents at all institutions.
Even in our own much smaller community we
have the same arrangement. The priests, other staff
and eucharistic ministers from our parish, for ex-
ample, take Communion to the hospital and ex-
tended care institutions under our responsibility
daily or weekly. We are there regularly for the
other sacraments as well.
This could not be done if we did not divide, up
the work among the parishes of our area.
If you are again hospitalized, notify the priest
in your parish if you want to see him personally.
He will try to be there for you.
A free brochure explaining Catholic teaching
on cremation and other burial policies is available
by sending a stamped, self.addressed envelope to
Father John Dietzen, Holy Trinity Parish, 704 N.
Main St., Bloomington, IlL 61701,
Questions for this column should be sent to
Father Dietzen at the same address.
Copyright (c) 1 g88 by NC News Service
III III
Vatican
Continued from page 5
academic institute.
"Deforestation, chemical
pollution, uncontrolled ur-
banization -- these are going to
be major issues in the coming
decades, and the church needs
people qualified to speak on
them," he said.
The priest sees a strong tradi-
tion of ecology running through
church history, beginning with
Sts. Benedict and Francis and
their spiritual perspective on
production and work.
Likewise, he thinks the church
today should be in the thick of
-- the environmental movement to
give it a religious orientation.
But, he noted, there is some
reluctance among church
leaders to form alliances with
groups that, for example, pro-
mote birth control as a solution
to environmental problems.
Father Przewozny said his
hope is that the "Franciscan
viewpoint" will rub off on
these groups. Some of the larger
international organizations,
such as the World Wildlife
Foundation, have recently held
major meetings in Assisi, Italy,
the birthplace of St. Francis.
An ecological movement is
also developing among mis-
sionaries. In early November,
about 100 mission workers
gathered in Rome to discuss ap-
proaches to the environmental
problems they encounter daily
-- ranging from multinational
corporations that eschew safety
norms tothe lack of firewood in
Third World countries.
Partly because of urbaniza-
tion, the missionaries have seen
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