Ashes of deceased don’t belong at home, bishop reminds flock

MANILA, Philippines — A reminder from the Catholic Church in this season honoring the dead: urns containing ashes of the deceased should be laid to rest in a sacred place, such as a cemetery or columbarium.

“A cemetery or columbarium also gives family and community a shared place to pray for and remember the deceased,” Bishop Gerardo Alminaza of San Carlos, Negros Occidental, said in an interview with the Inquirer.

He said this guidance reflects the Church’s belief in the “dignity of the human person and the resurrection of the body.” A designated resting place also allows families and the wider community to gather and pray for those who have died.

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READ: Don’t keep cremated remains at home – Archdiocese of Manila

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Keeping an urn at home is generally not encouraged under Church teaching, except in grave and exceptional circumstances and under conditions specified by the Vatican, Alminaza said.

The Vatican clarified in 2023 that Church authorities may consider requests to keep a small portion of a person’s ashes in a significant place, provided the remains are treated respectfully and the ashes are also kept in a sacred place.

Alminaza said, “That clarification does not establish a general exception for bringing an entire urn home for Undas.”

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The Archdiocese of Manila also cited its Oct. 24 guidelines stating, “The cremated remains should be buried in a grave, mausoleum or columbarium … the urn should not be kept permanently at home or family altar.”

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The city government of Mandaluyong has allowed families in this Undas season to temporarily bring home urns kept at the Ash Repository and Columbarium of the Garden of Life Memorial Park.

The city government said this arrangement was intended to ease congestion in cemeteries and give families an opportunity to remember their departed loved ones at home. Families are expected to return the urns on Nov. 5.

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“Still, in light of the Church’s guidance, the more fitting practice is to leave the urn in its resting place and make it easier for families to visit, pray and remember there,” Alminaza said.