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Show CATHOLIC VIEW Or CREMATION fnhumsiion a Matter of Church Discipline, Not a Dogm3, and May be Relaxed j Under Sanitary Extremes. I Pueblo, Colo., Dec. S, 1004. y.:ito;- iiitej-inoiinlnin t'atholie: -: cue iIomiIhI to iho interests of the Catholic ;-nn Ii and tent limps, I would like to ask. why she is ,,m ..i:,,i1 to cremation. This pi stion propounded to for wbii-h I have PouglU a K'tor, clear answer, is ii'ver been pufTiejeji t ly answered. I have read r..tii"li( vkv.rs which slate it is opposed to the doo-sri.-e if the resurrection of the body, also that the (.ir'y Christians showed their aversion to the pa gran 1'i-c of cremation, which t'ney condemned ; whilst .'.thet-M ;:p-eal to the old law where it is said: "And shall i,'D ty thy fathers in peace, and be buried . in a j-'ooi old ace;" also "His body shall not remain , upon the tree, but .hall be buried the same day." To K"t your views in this whole matter is the object i . f the writer, and if it is scientifically established that cremation produces pood results from a sanitary :andpoiiit. w hy should it not be universally and j, t'.aily adopted and established? A CATHOLIC. Our correspondent's views regarding Christian i burial are vague, as are also his conclusions de- I rivi il from the most ancient teaching of ihe church. lihtniK'.lioii, or ordinary interment, accompanied by prayers of the church is not a part of the Catholic deposit of faith, and may, when necessity demands if. he dispensed with. f The discipline of the church is twofold divine rtnl ec-k'-.iatical. What has a divine origin cannot he changed. What is ccclestiastical may be changed or modified. If some malignant disease caused an epidemic so that ordinary interment v.a- pronounced by "health commissioners and doctors" doc-tors" a most fruitful source for the continuance and spread of the disease, and that the civil authorises authori-ses ordered all dying from that disease to be cremated, cre-mated, the Catholic church would acquiesce accordingly. accord-ingly. This is viewing the case at its farthest ex-t ex-t lenities. f we view the moral aspect of ihe trar (iitimiary teaching of the church, ordinary intcr-vii intcr-vii i;T, not cremation, has always been the law. Hence a nicmi'or of the church, whilst free to ex-i:c"s ex-i:c"s a; id follcw the bent of his inclinations regarding regard-ing the on-maiion of his remains after death, could p.t receive the sH'riunciils of the church before death, nor after death would such a member be entitled en-titled to ihe initial services of her ritual. Because such a disposition of one's mortal remains is contrary con-trary to h r traditional teachings, also to her en- i iicimcn: regarding: Christian burial. '! Alhan Bailor, in his "hives of the Saints," 1 h-diing n ibis subject, wrote: "The Christians i r travo jti to the customs of preserving the bo !i- of their dead, like the Egyptians, or of burning burn-ing ill' in with the Romans, or of casting them to tl.e beasts with the Persians; but, in imitation the people of God from the beginning of the vie-ld. buried ihem with decency and respect in the ;.:tl; where, according to the sentence pronounced by ;.. thy return to dust till the general resur- reel;. .i." ; mr correspondent is entirely wrong when he j . v i it "It is opposed to the doctrine of the resur-l resur-l r Ti c iof." Ai:y teaching that is opposed to a defined -triti" of (lie church is always condemned. Not f M i! the Pope can modify, alter, much less dispense from the belief in dogmatic truths. And as inhu- !:;;.- i 11 1 is in po ense a defined article of faith, it could not lie used in the same sense as the doctrine doc-trine of ihe Kesurrei lion of the body on the last day. Tiie pagans, during the first centuries of the l.ri-'iaii era. supposing that the doctrine of the 1,' -nrreetiou f ihe body, and ihe veneration shown 1 I by the ( iiri-lians for their deceased brethren in f buying Them with religious pomp, were one and ,1 tl.e ,-;,,.- or inseparable, cremated those martyred I I.:-,,,-. evo iheir bodies to 1 lie. dogs to be dc- i; vein-. -,1. This expression of hatred, intolerance and If 1 !- filiation the little band f Christians, who sur- f Ai.-d 1,.. consecutive persecutions, resented and '. ' t.lore.l. and when possible, in the silence and dark- 1 .... , f 1!,,. niht, tried to find t liir remains, which . I .", -id- red a "priceless treasure.'" i:u- 1. ins a historian of the third century, writ-V writ-V g on this point, quolos a letter written at. a much -. ,-!, r period by the Church of Lyons and Vienna j ' T.i hrisiiaii church of Asia and Phrygia on the 1 i ''in-- of the pagans in cremating the bodies of 'i- ' iin'-iian.-. "They acted thus," he said, ''as if 1! were superior (in power) to God. and could d'l-.iu- them (ihe maryrs) of their resurrection, I-:; i.:g forsooth; All hope of their rising again has I - ', .! ,j ; ns sec if their God by His help can j b th, m again to life and deliver them out of our J .V'd-." S.-ii!- the motives which actuated pagan hostil-r hostil-r . oi,r correspondent should not be surprised "that ifly Christians showed iheir. a version io that V-'-..i practice of cremation whi-h they (the early j ' : ''!-' iaiis ) condemned." I o 1 i n ihe chur-h succeeded the synagogue in its I r" - :,.. minion, she found ihe Israelites, who 1 ;" (iod's chosen people, earing for their deceased, I : "i i.'irv ing them decently in cemeteries set special-. special-. I '' vr for that purpose. In piiceeeding to this di- 1 :" ' it;lieritanee.-the church followed the example I 11.. synagogue. Her di vine founder was himself ! ,in,U- for three lays after voluntarily sacrific- i :tig his if(. (lU xvif of the cross. . ur eorresiiondent appeals to sanilary require- I iti-bts. Who are ihe judges ? Infidels, atheists, r-'ionalists ;,,! agnostics who are guided more by 1 ati-.-d of Christian usage than by scientific pnu-I pnu-I ' i.!es: Sei(-i.-(! is a convenient, and popular word for crenuitioiiists when they Want public indorse- '"'at for iheir hatred of God and religious prin-.4 prin-.4 J r:l'!' s. hltit is it demonstrated that cremation, from J I unitary standpoint, is beneficial Opinions differ, f I oiiio very learned experts on the matter maintain the contrary, and do not hesitate to say that erema-I erema-I l'"n. if universally adopted, wotdd prove a great I source f infection. I But whv are the apostles of sanitary laws more. i intensted in cremation lhan in Pre water and I Pi-ope,- drainage; In all large cities it is well I 1-iiowii that more infectious diseases come from bad "" vmummmmmmm riwmii mnp,,, ' i pm mvnn m "" """ water and defective drainage than any other source. Yet our scientific sanitary experts are unable 1o cope with the evil. Drainage had reached a higher state of perfection 2,000 years; ago than it is today. Cardinal Wiseman wrote that "it was one of the lost arts." Cremation, if adopted, would put an end to all post mortem examinations which often occur after the deceased has been buried for weeks and months.-Criminal months.-Criminal evidence, of which there is at first no suspicion, sus-picion, often presents itself after the deceased is buried. The body is exhumed, the post mortem examination ex-amination corroborates the evidence. The criminal is brought to justice and pays the penalty of his crime. All this would be impossible if the body was cremated. . But all this by the way in answer to our esteemed correspondent who professes "his devotion to the interests of the Catholic church's attitude on this subject." If cremation becomes a legal enactment. as it may in Europe at any time, where hatred of God and religious teaching so virulently manifest themselves, then the Catholic church in this matter can accommodate herself to the worst. In our own country common sense, not hatred, will settle the matter." F. D. |