Vatican's rule against scattering ashes 'stern and can't be policed'
New rules on cremation are being described as "stern" and impossible to police.
Yesterday the Vatican reissued a directive warning Catholics that they are not allowed to scatter the ashes of their loved ones, nor to keep them at home.
Instead, ashes must be stored in a sacred place such as a graveyard. A bishop may allow ashes to be kept at home only in extraordinary cases, the instructions state.
The guidelines are not new, but have been reissued this week as a reminder. The Catholic Church has allowed cremations since 1963, and the rules have been part of canonical law since 1983.
The Vatican document, Ad Resurgendum cum Christo, is dated August 15 and says Pope Francis approved it in March. The instructions were released before the upcoming All Souls’ Day on November 2, when Catholics remember and pray for the dead.
Director at Fanagan Funeral Directors David Fanagan said the clergy will be taking a very common sense approach with how to deal with the issue.
"This directive seems rather stern, but I have to think we'll continue to do what we've always done," he said, citing as examples Church teaching on Mass attendance and contraception "which an awful lot of people for practical reasons, do not follow".
He suggested it would be difficult to police the rule.
