Vatican Sets Strict Rules for Catholics Regarding Cremation

New Vatican guidelines on cremation prohibit scattering of ashes, keeping urns at home.

FOX’s Courtney Walsh has this report from Rome:

Catholics who want to be cremated must ensure their ashes are stored in a sacred place, not scattered, divided or kept at home…

Cardinal Gerhard Mueller, the head of the congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith noted that the new guidelines say a proper burial is preferred as Christians believe in resurrection.

But if there are legitimate motivations for cremation, for example economic or ecological, the ashes of a believer must be kept in a holy location like a cemetery or a church.

The Catholic church prohibited cremation until 1963.

In Rome, Courtney Walsh, FOX News.