What Does God Say About Keeping Cremation Ashes?

At Affordable Urns, we understand how important it is to make sure that the passing of your loved one is handled with care and respect towards your religion. You want to make the afterlife care as best for them as possible but you want to make sure that it is done within the grace and rules of God. This article will talk about what the rights and wrongs of cremation ashes in terms of the Christian religion are, paying respects to both those of the church and for people's own personal Christian beliefs and understandings. 

With that in mind and as a disclaimer, Affordable Urns are not authorities on any religious matters and this article is merely to help guide one in the decision making for the care of your loved one. If true religious knowledge needs to be obtained before any decisions are made, please consult your priest or other religious figurehead for the most accurate guidance.

Is Cremation for Christians Acceptable?

If we are to talk about what to do with keeping cremation ashes in respect to the almighty, we first need to talk about if cremation for Christians is acceptable in the first place. Cremation has become a vastly more popular option than burial especially in recent years. This is due to various different reasons but it is known that around 75% of all afterlife care is chosen to be done through cremation. 

With so many people choosing cremation as their preferred option for after life care In a majority Christian nation such as Australia, this leads to the question: is cremation for Christians acceptable. The answer may depend on the different denominations of Christianity that exist, but for the Australian majority which is Roman Catholic, the answer is yes, it is acceptable.

The Catholic Church, since as far back as 1963, has allowed Catholics to choose cremation as their preferred method of after life care. In fact, there is nowhere in the Bible that states that cremation is forbidden. The early days of Catholicism forbade the cremation of bodies as the Romans used to use it as a way of stopping the resurrection of martyrs from their grave.

Other denominations however still do not allow cremation, such as Christian Orthodox. There are many different denominations of Christianity, and each of them have different rules regarding cremation, burial and the preferred way to treat their followers with afterlife care. This article is mainly focused on the Roman Catholic majority in Australia, so if you are not a part of this and follow a different denomination, then we ask you to check with your local priest for better guidance.

As the practice has recently been allowed there are still some things that are forbidden surrounding the practice which we will discuss next.

What Can I Do With the Ashes as a Christian?

As a Catholic, the Catholic Pope is the highest form of communication with God that resides here on earth and that we can distinctly listen to. As such the Catholic Pope has stated that cremation ashes should be kept in a holy place. This can include the columbarium at a church or Chapel that allows for the storage of cremation ashes with a cremation urn. However, what's important to note is that the very same cremation ashes cannot be stored in your home or in any sort of jewellery or memento such as with cremation jewellery. It is also forbidden by the Pope to split the ashes, so urns such as keepsake urns are not suitable.

Well not every Christian denomination can be cremated, as a Catholic you now know the do's and don'ts of cremation ashes and their handling. We urge you to check with a local priest so you can be fully sure as to what you are planning to do is the right course of action through God. We've done our best to make sure that everything in this article is accurate, but as we've mentioned before, we are no authorities on religious matters and our information should not be taken as fact. Affordable Urns provides Australians affordable and unique cremation urns while maintaining the best quality to ensure everyone can have access to a proper way to honour their loved ones memory. If you are looking for an exceptional cremation urn, take a look at our site to find your perfect urn today.