Our Catholic Faith and Burial Rites

A Catholic funeral, like a Catholic cemetery, is for the living, not the dead. It affirms our faith in the Resurrection. It offers consolation, hope and remembrance among friends, family and community of believers. And it provides a profound witness of our Faith to the world. Our faith in the Resurrection of Christ does not prevent physical death. We need to live well and give consideration to the manner and location of burial. The risk taken by Joseph of Arimathea to claim the body of Jesus after his death on the cross shows the respect Christians have for the human body. God not only created us in the fullness of our humanity, but also sent his Son to take on our body and our nature. Being in the image and likeness of God makes our bodies innately honorable. Look as well at the elaborate efforts (again, risking arrest and death) of the Christians living under persecution in ancient Rome. They worshipped underground and buried their dead in catacombs.