Print Issue: March 14, 2002

Follow Through With Cremation If That Was Original Wish Of Deceased

By Rebecca Rakoczy

ATLANTA-Cremation has been accepted in the Catholic Church since 1963, and sometimes the ashes are kept in an urn with the family, or in a memorial garden. Like a funeral where the body is buried, a service is held.

The church permits cremation as long as dignity is shown to the remains; in most cases a burial service takes place. It is now possible to have the cremated remains in the church for a funeral.

But what happens when the service is over and the ashes interred, and, years later, you find that the ashes you thought were your beloved's - aren't? And if you are then presented with the body, should you bury it, or cremate it? And what about another funeral?

Such is the agonizing and heart-wrenching dilemma for families in northwest Georgia, who are struggling with the reality of having another cremation and funeral for relatives who they thought were already put to rest. Their sorrow has been sharpened with the news that the bodies were never cremated at all, but stacked in a shed, flung in the woods, or buried in shallow graves around the Tri-State Crematory in Walker County.

So far, 339 bodies, which were supposed to be cremated, have been found all over the property of Ray Brent Marsh, the crematory operator.

At least four families from the parish of Our Lady of the Mount in Lookout Mountain have discovered that their relatives may be among the bodies found.

Marsh is being held on bond in Walker County Jail. Currently 118 charges of theft-by-deception are pending against him. The charges allege that Marsh took money for services of cremation, but did not perform the service.

"People who have in good faith made this (original) decision to have a relative cremated should not revisit that decision" (on whether they should bury or cremate), said Msgr. Stephen Churchwell, pastor of Sacred Heart Church, Atlanta.

"The church has a strong view of the sanctity of the human body, and you show respect in any way you can. You should follow through with someone reputable-a burial service or cremation service," he said.

Another funeral service is usually warranted, he said, "but there might be a lot of people who just can't deal with" coming to another funeral for the same person.

"You need to invite them to come back when they want, or ask them to stop and have a prayer at that moment" when the new funeral will be held, he said.

While the church has sanctioned cremation of the body, the practice is still not widely used among practicing Catholics.

The practice of cremation evolved from the Catholic Church in Japan, he said.

"That was the common way in Japan, and the Japanese church got permission to do that, then it became common in Canada, and then in this country," Msgr. Churchwell said.

He estimated that he does between two or three services where the body has been cremated for every 10 services he does that are followed by burial.

"You need to reassure people if they made this decision they did it in good faith," he said. "Don't go back and revisit that decision . . . (They) don't need to go and say they did the wrong thing . . . (With) the anger, disappointment and distrust at every level now . . . people need reassurance."