AHMEDABAD: As Covid casualties increase,
burial sites are harder to get and the grim development has prompted the Catholic Diocese of Ahmedabad to tell its adherents to consider
cremation of corona victims in this extraordinary crisis. The faith leaders of the Parsi community in the city have made a similar appeal. Neither community’s religious practices allow cremation in the last rites in normal situations.
As for Ahmedabad’s
Catholics, Bishop Athanasius Rethna Swamy issued a pastoral letter on April 12 suggesting that the cremation of the Covid dead can be an option. ‘Pastoral’ among the Christians is related to the intimation of spiritual guidance. “The present situation poses a challenge to the church in administering the last rites to the departed ones in a dignified manner,” the letter said. “There are also issues of dwindling space in our cemeteries.” The letter added, “In circumstances when cremation is chosen because of sanitary, economic or social considerations, this choice must never violate the explicitly stated or the reasonably inferable wishes of the deceased faithful.”
The church raises no doctrinal objections to this practice in the pandemic because the cremation of the deceased’s body does not affect his or her soul, the letter said. As of now, Vatva and Sabarmati cemeteries have one Catholic priest each to oversee burials. Sources said that the Biladibagh cemetery, near Delhi Chakla, is almost 50% full. “We can still bury Covid victims here, following the protocols,” a source said. “But the Catholic canon law permits members to choose cremation.”
‘Ashes to be preserved with full dignity’The Bishop’s letter quotes the Vatican’s ‘Instruction Ad resurgendum cum Christo’ regarding the burial of the deceased and the conservation of the ashes in the case of cremation, issued in August 2016. Another citation in the letter about cremation is the ‘Instruction Piam et Constantem’ of July 1963.
“Cremation becomes a preferred option for the Catholics who die of Covid in terms of hygiene and in cognizance of the scarcity of space in some of our cemeteries,” the Bishop’s letter said. “The ashes will be preserved in the niches of the cemetery with full dignity in the presence of a priest who makes sure that it is done according to the church burial ritual.”
The Parsi community has been encouraged to weigh the options for the last rites along the same lines. Ervad (‘priest’) Dr Khushroo Ghadiali of Anjuman Vakil Addran at Khamasa, said: “The cremation option is only for those who are the victims of Covid and not for individuals who die of other causes.” He added: “Usually Parsis follow the tradition of ‘dokhmenashini’ which is grounded in science. But in this pandemic, our community has decided to strictly observe government guidelines for the disposal of bodies.”