Who
can be buried in a Catholic Cemetery?
How do I locate a burial site at Holy Sepulchre
Cemetery?
The Church and Cremation?
Do I need to ask permission to be cremated?
When should Cremation take place?
Who Can be buried
in a Catholic Cemetery?
A Catholic Cemetery is established to carry out
the sacred religious function of burial and care of the resting places
of the deceased members of the faith community. Burial rights in a
Catholic cemetery can be acquired by any baptized
Catholic person. The degree to which a baptized Catholic practices their religion is
a personal matter and is never a factor in determining their right
to purchase burial rights. Rights to these burial spaces once acquired
by a baptized Catholic, may pass to that person’s heirs according to the statutes
of New York State law regardless of the heirs’ religious
beliefs or affiliation.
Generally rights of burial pass from the purchaser
of the burial rights first to their spouse, then equally to their
parents, their children and their children’s children until
all the spaces for which the rights were acquired are used. Furthermore,
a person holding rights of burial in a Catholic cemetery may specifically
designate those rights to any other person(s), regardless of their
relationship to the owner or the their religious affiliation or
beliefs. If the original purchaser of the rights is deceased,
this right of transfer passes to the surviving next of kin in the same
manner in which burial rights pass to surviving heirs. It should
be noted that burial rights pass by direct family relationship
and not by residual inheritance. In other words, burial rights bequeathed
to persons other than direct family descendants must be specifically
identified in a will or trust.
The most important consideration in who can or wishes to be buried
in a Catholic cemetery is that the Catholic cemetery is
a symbol of the our belief in the resurrection of the body and the hope of
eternal life with Christ. It is a sacred place, consecrated by a bishop of
the Roman Catholic Church. Monuments, headstones and cemetery features,
such as statues and artwork, must have a dominant Christian religious
theme. Symbols and markings which are contrary to Catholic beliefs and
teachings can not be allowed. Therefore persons wishing to be buried there,
must respect those beliefs and be willing to abide by the principles and
rules governing the Catholic cemetery.
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How do I locate a burial site at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery?
We have two grave locators in the entrance to our Family Services Center. The locators have the ability to print out maps to assist you in locating burial sites and is available for public use during the normal gate hours. You also have the option to stop at our Family Services Center for directions and maps.
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The Church and Cremation?
As a Catholic may I be cremated?
Yes. In May, 1963, the Vatican's Holy Office now the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith lifted the prohibition forbidding Catholics to choose cremation. This permission was incorporated in the revised Code of Canon Law of 1983 (Canon #1176), as well as into the Order of Christian Funerals. It then became standard practice to celebrate funeral liturgies with the body and then take the body to the crematorium. Most recently the Bishops of the United States and the Holy See have authorized the celebration of a Catholic funeral liturgy with the cremated remains when the body is cremated before the funeral.
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Do I need to ask permission to be cremated ?
No, but it is a good idea to discuss your reasons with your pastor or
other pastoral leader.
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When should cremation take place ?
The Church strongly prefers that cremation take place after the full funeral liturgy with the body. The presence of the body most clearly brings to mind the life and death of the person and better expresses the values that the Church affirms in its rites.
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