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When Rev. John Molyn's parents died, he respected their wishes and had them cremated after their funeral Masses.

At the parish cemetery of St. John the Baptist Church in Valatie, where Father Molyn is pastor, four or five families request cremation every year. When he came to the parish a decade ago, only one parishioner made that request.

In Whitehall, about 25 percent of burials in Our Lady of Angels Cemetery are of cremated remains, said Michael Putorti, cemetery chairperson.

As cremation gains acceptance and rises in popularity nationwide, a similar trend is happening within the Catholic Church, albeit on a smaller scale. The general reasons -- economic, cultural and environmental - are similar.

But for Catholics, the trend has posed challenges to tradition and doctrine.

Ashes to ashes
Cremation was used following 32 percent of deaths in New York State in 2008, according to the Cremation Association of North America. In the Albany Diocese, about 15 percent of burials are now of cremated remains, compared to about five percent 20 years ago.

"When I first started, you could count the number of cremations on one hand," said Rick Touchette, director of cemeteries for the Diocese of Albany.

The agency is adding a new mausoleum at St. Mary's Cemetery in Troy. It represents the shift: There are 120 crypts for caskets and nearly three times that many niches for cremated remains.

In previous years, the ratio favored crypts there and at other cemeteries.

On the other side of the country, in Washington state, cremation was used after 68 percent of deaths in 2008. Similarly, almost 45 percent of burials at the cemeteries of the Archdiocese of Seattle have involved cremations this year.

Richard Peterson, the diocesan cemeteries director there, cites several reasons for the coastal difference, including a higher level of "unchurched" people in the Pacific Northwest and Washington state and a transient population less tied to tradition.

Interestingly, people who choose cremation tend to be better educated and salaried, even though cremation generally costs less than full-body burial.

Beginning in the early 1900s, canon (Church) law prohibited cremation in order to promote the imitation of Jesus' entombment. The ban was lifted after the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s.

Today, full-body burial remains the preferred method in the Church, but many families prefer alternatives in order to save money, preserve open space and for other, personal reasons.

Respect remains
Father Molyn wants his body to be cremated or donated to Albany Medical Center for scientific research - as long as his remains are buried thereafter. Regardless, in all cases he prefers when the full body is present at the funeral.

"I think the rite is less stark if you have a body there," he explained. "I think you get more closure that way."

In the Albany Diocese, urns are permitted at the funeral Mass. They were not permitted in any Catholic church until 1997, when the Vatican said each bishop could choose the standard for his diocese.

Cremations affect the demand for plots and can reduce revenues, cemetery directors say. At Albany diocesan cemeteries, interment with cremated remains costs less than half the price of interment with a casket.

Grave space for a full casket can reach $1,150, while space in an urn garden starts at $250. Some families choose to bury the urn with another family member, which is free.

Some choose cremation for environmental reasons, since cremated remains use less space. Mr. Touchette counters that regular interment works just as well: "If you want to preserve open space, there's no better way to do it than with a cemetery."

New on the scene are "green burials": allowing the body to decompose into the earth without embalming it or placing it in a casket. A handful of cemeteries in the U.S. have made the switch; one popped up near Ithaca in 2007.

The Albany Diocese is considering creating similar sections in its cemeteries, but wants to make sure the demand is not a short-lived fad, Mr. Touchette said. Already, Catholic cemeteries in New Jersey and Michigan have tried it.

Understand tradition
While open to change, Church leaders say better education can help the faithful appreciate traditional methods. Dioceses need to boost their efforts to catechize Catholics about their options and the Church's preferences, Mr. Peterson said.

He added that the general decline of participation in sacraments like confirmation and matrimony among Catholics makes it likely that they bypass the Church for funerals, too.

Some families might choose cremation because it's viewed as less of a hassle or a way to "skip the sad parts."

But "I think that's misguided," Mr. Touchette said. Like Father Molyn, he believes that loved ones "need that sense of closure that sometimes you don't get with cremation."

The Diocese promotes the benefits of full-body burials and Catholic funerals with brochures, an interactive website and presentations at parishes.

(11/04/10) [[In-content Ad]]

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