Archdiocese Warns of Disposal of Ashes

The Roman Catholic archdiocese of Santa Fe, N.M., warned members that scattering ashes of loved ones is improper and forbidden by the church.

Catholics have sprinkled their relatives’ ashes on mountains and in rivers, oceans and other places since the church approved cremation in the 1980s. But reports of odd funereal practices prompted Archbishop Michael Sheehan to write a pastoral letter reaffirming Roman Catholic Church policy.

The church teaches respect for human life and for the body after the soul leaves it in death. Remains, either the body or its ashes, must be buried or placed in a mausoleum blessed by a priest, he said.

Sheehan said he became alarmed when he learned of the ways ashes were being handled. In one case, he said, they were divided among family members. In another, they were mixed with clay to make memorial pots.