Posted on 01/21/2016 1:22:40 PM PST by NRx
Athens, January 21, 2016
Hierarchs of the Church of Greece have commented on the decision of local authorities to open a crematorium in the city of Patras, reports AgionOros.
Bishop Chrysanthos stressed that "the war against the Church is now being waged openly. Cremation and other manifestations of the new morality (for example, "free cohabitation", civil partnerships and so on) have nothing to do with the Orthodox tradition of Greece".
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Metropolitan Justin of Kalamaria, commenting on the decision to open the crematorium, said: "Many claim that the Church should care for people's souls only and leave the body alone. That is not true: the Church cares for the whole human being who is saved in his or her psychosomatic unity, gaining the Divine grace.
The body is holy and sacred for the Church, because it was created by God! The Lord Himself took this body, resurrected and ascended to the Heavens in it. Can there be a greater glory for the body?"
In the hierarch's view, "cremation of the departed indicates nihilism, unbelief and disrespect, first of all, for the human personality and, therefore, for the Creator".
Metropolitan Justin expressed the opinion that the main danger for Greece is not in the economic crisis, but in the spiritual and moral one: "Some forces want to goad us into moral lapse. And we, Orthodox Christians, are obliged to oppose this destructive force which is striving to raze everything to the ground. We need to oppose those who are seeking to impose alien morals on us, to enslave our small country with foreign ideology."
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Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Patras in his address to the flock emphasized the inconsistency of cremation with the teaching of the Orthodox Church: "God created man in His own image, as a psychosomatic unity. The union between the soul and the body is holy, and it is no coincidence that Apostle Paul calls our body 'a temple of the Holy Spirit'...
"When separated from the soul, the body does not become a corpse, as is the case with dumb animals, but it becomes 'relics'.
"Cremation of the dead demonstrates nihilism, while burial shows respect for the personality of the deceased...
"In the end, cremation of human bodies is a sign of lack of faith in resurrection."
Reference by AgionOros.ru
The Church of Greece has always spoken up against introducing cremation. Cremation of the dead, allowed in a number of oriental religious traditions and accepted for atheists, contradicts the Christian practice of burying the deceased in the ground. Christians are waiting for the Second Coming of Christ and the Resurrection of the dead, and they consider that cremating a human body is unacceptable.
It is obvious that, when speaking about "the forces that are blocking the building of crematoria," the Greek liberals above all mean the Church of Greece, whose authority is still very strong among the Greek population. That is why the overwhelming majority of Greek city councils, pleading "the possible worsening of the ecological situation," are blocking the government law that provides for building of crematoria.
The official stand of the Church of Greece is reflected in the resolution of the Holy Synod of May 12, 2010:
1. The Church knows and suggests to Orthodox Christians the only way of disintegration of a dead body is its burial, which is in accordance with the teaching of the Holy Church and many centuries of Church tradition.
2. The Church does not object to cremation of dead bodies of representatives of other religions or heterodox Christians.
The opinion of the Church of Greece is shared by other Local Orthodox Churches. According to Metropolitan Hierotheos (Vlachos) of Nafpaktos and Agios Vlasios, "the entire funeral service is directly related to burial of a body and not burial of ashes. Thus, we come to the conclusion that the funeral service should be performed neither before cremation nor after it. In the first case there will not be the actual burial of the body, and in the second case there will be no body - only ashes."
Sources: http://www.agioritikovima.gr
http://www.romfea.gr
http://www.agioritikovima.gr
21 / 01 / 2016
Title rather poorly abbreviated to fit.
Catholics do allow cremation now. As a Catholic, I condemn this practice - along with allowing tattoos and other biblical and long-held Catholic proscriptions.
“Many claim that the Church should care for people’s souls only and leave the body alone. That is not true: the Church cares for the whole human being who is saved in his or her psychosomatic unity, gaining the Divine grace.”
My favorite Baptist, Dr. Al Mohler, is against cremation. He believes the burial of a body is a testimony of the hope we have in the bodily resurrection. (First Corinthians 15)
Right now I have no bias pro or con for cremation. I’m of the mind that we are creatures of spirit and once we pass from this earth, the body no longer holds any value.
I am willing to be persuaded one way or the other but subject to the following New testament based hierarchy:
1) A direct teaching attributed to Jesus
2) A similar or indirect teaching attributed to Jesus
3) A direct or indirect teaching from the apostles
Quotes from Popes, pastors, priest, monks, good guys, and other text need not apply.
What difference does it make if you turn to ash in thirty minutes or thirty years. We are told we will be given a body that’s pleasing to Him. So according to this resplendently clothed guy (guess Yeshua wore that stuff) that if you burn up in a fire you’re toast?
Catholics can be cremated.
Dust to dust, ashes to ashes, literally.
Proscriptions can be changed, like eating meat on Fridays and some fasting and abstinence proscriptions.
It makes no difference at all. Catholics allow cremation.
The Greek Orthodoxy might change, but not this generation.
I wouldn’t hold your breath on that prediction. Rome may have caved on this but it has been the consistent teaching of the Church, the Fathers and many saints that cremation is a sacrilege against the Temple of the Holy Spirit and a pagan attempt to undermine the teaching about the resurrection, including the resurrection of the body. Rome used to understand this and forbade cremation for almost 2000 years.
Years ago, I mentioned cremation to my mother. She about
had a fit. (I just mentioned it for myself!) She begged me
to reconsider and not be cremated. She said it was NOT a
Christian burial. - She died in 1999. Dad in 2002. I
arranged a really nice burial for them both in nice caskets!
- Husband & I both have life insurance to pay for us a both
a decent burial. - I’ve also told our son that if I live,
HE will also have a decent burial, even though his church
has gone over to cremation. He was glad to hear me say it
as he didn’t really want cremation anyway. MIL decreed
cremation for her & FIL; but, if their preacher had told
them to ram their heads into a wall, she would have ran
as fast as possible into the nearest wall.
Part of the "Confitor Deo" is the "resurrection of the body." I believe in that too. We aren't told WHEN, where or how, but we believe.
The only meatless days now are Lenten Fridays.
It was never a problem for me. In lieu of meat one could have crab, shrimp, lobster, sand dabs or some other deeelicious shellfish on Fridays.
You may be right. I think, however, that it is done deal. No one these days knows his/her Church history anyway except a few folks (like you) on the FR.
Cremation leads to ashes, dust: dust to dust, ashes to ashes. It SEEMS fitting to me.
What cannot change is dogma, doctrine...which this is not about. We won't live long enough, I think, to see.
When Jesus talked about marriage-divorce, He was very clear. Anyone divorcing, then remarrying is committing adultery. What God has joined together....
Some marriages may end, in the eyes of the law, but not in the eyes of God. No remarriage.
My elderly aunt refused cremation. It is the HEATHEN way
in death as my mother also stated. - Aunt Mildred also
thought that cremation turned the bones to ash and that
the bones needed to remain until Christ returns for us at
the fast approaching end of the age. - I want to be buried
in a cheap coffin on a hill, facing eastward to meet Him
when He returns!
My husband was cremated and I had his ashes put in our local Catholic cemetery. I bought another space for MY ashes in that same grave. I even had the inscription on the tombstone for him.
Those who did that work asked me if I wanted MY name on the tombstone too, for when I kicked the bucket. LOL! I declined, choosing to WAIT until I HAD curled up my toes. I did NOT want to see MY name on that tombstone when I went out to visit HIS grave site.
NOT YET!! NOT YET!! NOT YET!!
By the way, how do you know that He will come from the east? North east? Due east? The earth shifts positions during the year. The sun rises more in my NORTHEAST during the summer and more in my SOUTHEAST in the winter.
He WILL find you.
That is a very modernist approach. The Orthodox Church is DEEPLY conservative. As the old joke goes, a liberal Orthodox priest is one who may occasionally shave. This is a church that has seen full blown schisms over calendars! The Greek Church is not going to approve cremation. And thank God for it!
Well, if it suits you, that is good.
I DO think that how we live is FAR more important to our good Lord than this death ceremony.
We are not members of a culture or country, such as Greece or Italy, we are ALL members of His Body, wherever we live.
Just an opinion, NRx, just an opinion.
In the Orthodoxy the funeral service is considered a sacrament of the Church.
Roughly speaking (my catechism is in the other room, and I am ensconced in this loveseat ), the Catholic Church teaches this about burial, cremation.
Burial is strongly preferred because it is a sign of hope in the bodily resurrection of the dead. As long as it isn’t a sign of the rejection of the belief in the bodily resurrecting, or a sign of a belief in atheism, cremation is permitted. Especially if a primary driver is hardship associated with traditional burial.
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It's the same in the Catholic Church. The person is alive, however. Now it's called:
Anointing of the Sick (Catholic Church), from Wikipedia:
In the past, the usual name of the sacrament in official documents of the Catholic Church was Extreme Unction (meaning, Final Anointing), a name attached to it when it was administered, as one of the "Last Rites".
That doesn't have anything to do with cremation, though, but it IS our last Sacrament before we meet our Maker.
Seven Sacrements: Baptism, Holy Eucharist, Confirmation, Reconciliation, Marriage, Holy Orders and Annointing of the sick.
And, you DO remember your cathechism. :o)
What is a sacrament?
It is a religious ceremony or act of the Christian Church that is regarded as an outward and visible sign of inward and spiritual divine grace, in particular.
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