The ashes of the deceased can be placed in a " sacred place ", even a common one - as happens with ossuaries - but they can be preserved (albeit in a small part) in a " place of the heart ". The important thing is that "the personal details" are indicated for each person, so as not to waste the memory". Furthermore, "provided that any type of pantheistic, naturalistic or nihilistic misunderstanding is excluded", the ecclesiastical authority "can take into consideration and evaluate a family's request to duly preserve a minimum part of the ashes of one of their relatives in a place significant for the history of the deceased".
The Doctrine of the Faith states this in a document countersigned by the Pope . Thus the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez, responded to two questions regarding the burial of the ashes, which had been posed by the Cardinal Archbishop of Bologna Matteo Zuppi. Without prejudice to the fact that the ashes cannot be scattered, there are two new possibilities that are open to the faithful: that they are - precisely - buried in common places and that they can partly be buried in a "special" place.
Cardinal Zuppi informed the Doctrine for the Faith that he had established a Commission in the Diocese of Bologna, with the aim of giving a Christian response to various problems that derive from the multiplication of the choice to cremate the deceased and scatter their ashes in nature. However, it was reiterated that "the ashes must be preserved in a sacred place (cemetery), and also in an area specifically dedicated to the purpose, provided that it has been designated for this by the ecclesiastical authority".
(Unioneonline/vf)
