The abiding value of the Catholic cemetery

Bishop Gerald Kicanas is the Bishop Emeritus of Tucson, Arizona, and Episcopal Moderator of the Catholic Cemetery Conference, a professional organization dedicated to the cultivation of the Church’s ministry towards the dead and those they have left behind. Before serving as Ordinary of Tucson from 2003 to 2017, Bishop Kicanas was a priest and auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Chicago.

He spoke with Catholic World Report recently about the ongoing significance of Catholic cemeteries and the Catholic attitude towards death and preparing for it.

CWR: You’ve said that Catholics should not wait “until the worst time in your life to find out what the Catholic Church teaches about” death and dying. From your experience, how knowledgeable is the average Catholic in what the Church teaches and how can we improve that?

Bishop Kicanas: Like most people, Catholics tend to not face the reality of death and dying until forced to do so. That is understandable. The reality of death can be frightening.

Yet, when people pre-plan, the time of death is much less stressful. Catechesis on preparing for death and dying and what the Church teaches needs to be enhanced for sure. Catholic Cemeteries can assist Dioceses in providing information on pre-planning to families. Catholic Cemeteries can help conduct seminars for Catholics on the importance of pre-planning and how best to accomplish that.

Burying the dead is one of the Corporal Works of Mercy meaning that the Church wants to accompany people in facing the reality of death and how as believers we can prepare.

CWR: Some might say that one reason why Catholics may not know what the Church teaches about death and dying is because that subject has practically disappeared from homilies and become almost taboo to discuss.  How can we engage the passive Catholic on that topic?

Bishop Kicanas: Priests and deacons themselves may be reluctant or hesitant to approach in homilies what the Church teaches about death and dying. Yet there are many occasions in the Church’s liturgical year when such a topic could be made a part of the homily. Christ’s resurrection is the promise of our rising. Funeral Masses can be an occasion to teach what the Church believes about death and reflect on the symbols the Church uses as part of its funeral rite.

It is at funerals that the Church can encounter non-practicing Catholics and help them understand what the Church teaches and that the Church wants to accompany people facing death.

CWR: Death is a subject most people avoid or evade.  But the Church encourages Catholics to consider pre-planning funerals and burials.  Why should they?

Bishop Kicanas: Clearly, pre-planning helps alleviate the stress on individuals and families when faced with the death of a loved one. Pre-planning includes decisions that have to be made, whether they are made at the time of death or–preferably–planned for ahead.

Catholic cemeteries welcome people to come in to set plans. Oftentimes people facing the death of a loved one that has not been pre-planned motivates them to consider pre-planning and its advantages. Pre-planning for one’s own death takes a great amount of pressure from families not to have to wonder what that person might prefer in burial arrangements, choice of readings or music for the Funeral Mass, and other decisions which if made by the individuals themselves helps the family to know their preferences. Pre-planning allows families to have precious time for grieving.

CWR: Vatican II promoted the renewal of the Sacrament of the Sick.  Pre-Vatican II Catholics sometimes waited until a person’s Last Agony to “call the priest.”  But many Catholics today don’t seem to be “calling the priest” at all.  What do we need to do to foster a renewed appreciation of that sacrament?

Bishop Kicanas: Many parishes and retirement/nursing homes regularly provide opportunities for people to receive the anointing of the sick. Again, catechesis is necessary to change people’s attitudes about the sacrament. The sacrament is not only needed at the time of death but to comfort and encourage people who face illness.

Nevertheless, many want the priest to anoint their loved one at the moment of death. This has become very difficult because of the shortage of priests 

CWR: You are the episcopal moderator of the Catholic Cemetery Conference. You’ve done a video to “promote a culture of Catholic burial.”  Is that culture in danger of being eroded and, if so, how? What is the significance of Catholic cemeteries?

Bishop Kicanas: As with many things, all people, including Catholics, are affected in their thinking by the prevailing culture of the society.

The Church needs to enhance the understanding of Catholics on the sacredness of the human body during life and after death. At funerals it is possible to highlight Catholic teaching about death and that the dead are cared for. I don’t believe people appreciate the importance of being buried on sacred and consecrated grounds, which is what Catholic cemeteries are meant to be. The two places identified in Canon Law as sacred are the Church building and the cemetery. These are places where the community gathers in prayer. Catholic cemeteries have regularly scheduled Masses and prayer. We are one in our prayers for one another. Sacred ground may not have as much meaning as the past but Catholic cemeteries are places where people gather in prayer. The church is the people at prayer. We do that in the Church and in the cemetery.

CWR: Do you think the growing popularity of cremation undermines “a culture of Catholic burial?” While the Church today allows cremation, it still prefers burial. Many people, however, say they choose cremation for economic reasons—it’s cheaper. Should and if so, how can the Church address that?

Bishop Kicanas: Clearly the prevalence of cremation today is significantly driven by economic reasons but it also affected by values. Where we invest our money has much to say about what is important.  The care of cremated remains or the body of one who has died needs to be treated with dignity and respect. So the Church is clear in that when cremation is chosen the remains need to be buried in a Catholic cemetery and not randomly distributed or put on a shelf or into a necklace. The Vatican document “To Rise With Christ”, promulgated in October 2016, clearly states the preference for full body burial and that even if cremation is chosen, the body’s presence at the funeral Mass is preferred.

CWR: Critics brand mortuary practice in America as a “funeral industry” and that the Catholic Church is just one of that industry’s major players. In view of your work as a bishop and with the Catholic Cemetery Conference, how would you address that claim?

Bishop Kicanas: The Catholic Church needs to accompany people at the time of the death of a loved one. Yes, the Church is and needs to be a major player accompanying people dying or facing the death of a loved one because of its understanding of death as not the end. So from earliest times with the catacombs the Church has been engaged in caring for those who have died and treated the remains with the dignity they deserve. The Church assists gratuitously in the burial of infants, the indigent, people have chosen cremation and have not yet buried the remains. More than a business, the Church ministers to people facing death.

CWR: What do you say to a Catholic young person who claims that “Catholic burial” imposes an undue carbon footprint on the environment and that we should instead consider methods of handling bodies—like alkaline hydrolysis—that practically zero out that footprint in the name of our “common home?”

Bishop Kicanas: The Church embraces care for the earth as Pope Francis has witnessed in his marvelous encyclical “Laudato Si”. Many Catholic cemeteries now provide sections for natural burial, that is full body burial; unlike cremation, bodies are not embalmed and put in areas with different care. Natural burial reflects the Church’s concern for the well-being of the earth. This method of burial is becoming more prevalent.

CWR: As a priest and bishop in Chicago and later in Arizona, you shepherded dioceses with large Hispanic populations, including significant cohorts of illegal aliens.  Are there any specific theological/pastoral issues affecting that immigrant community in the United States?  If so, what are they?

Bishop Kicanas: Here in Arizona, too many die crossing the Sonoran desert in search of a better life. The Church recognizes the dignity of every human person and so takes an interest in how the remains of a migrant are treated. The body of a migrant requires the same dignity and respect accorded to any person. So the Church seeks to assure the proper care of a migrant who dies on the journey north.