Funeral | Ask Fr Francis

This is very much a pastoral decision that your pastor will have to decide. The following is my own opinions of what is possible.

In the Order of Christian Funeral (OCF), the instructions regarding burial at sea and cremation are mentioned together. Here I first quote some of the relevant paragraphs: “The Church’s belief in the sacredness of the human body and the resurrection of the dead has traditionally found expression in the care taken to prepare the bodies of the deceased for burial.”(OCF 411)

Ask Fr Francis

Tag: Funeral

My husband is not a Catholic, and we were married at a Catholic Church. For the past 47 years, he has taken me to Mass every week. Is it possible to have a Catholic funeral Mass for him when he dies?

After struggling with bone cancer for over 10 years, God brought my elder sister back home last Saturday. Before she passed, she expressed that she preferred to have a burial at sea(海葬) . What is the teaching and attitude of the Catholic Church towards this issue?