Catholic Life · Sickness, Death and Mourning

What Happens at a Catholic Funeral, and Can Catholics Be Cremated?

Planning in Grief

When someone you love dies, you are often asked to make many decisions quickly while you are grieving. Knowing what a Catholic funeral involves can make this a little easier, and help you give your loved one a funeral that is both personal and full of Christian hope.

The first step is simple: contact the parish as soon as possible, usually through the funeral director, who will help coordinate the date and time with the priest.

The Three Parts of a Catholic Funeral

The Church’s Order of Christian Funerals has three main stages. Not every funeral includes all three, but together they accompany the person from death to burial.

1. The Vigil (often called the Rosary or Prayers)

The evening before the funeral, family and friends often gather for a vigil: a short service of prayers and Scripture readings, sometimes with the Rosary. It may be held at the funeral home, at the church, or at home. This is often a good time for family members and friends to share memories.

2. The Funeral Liturgy

The main celebration is usually a Funeral Mass (sometimes called a Requiem Mass) in the parish church. The coffin is received at the church door and sprinkled with holy water, a reminder of the person’s baptism. A white cloth called a pall may be placed over the coffin, and the Paschal candle, the Easter candle, burns beside it: the person was baptised into Christ’s death and Resurrection.

The Mass includes Scripture readings, a homily, the Eucharist offered for the person who has died, and the Final Commendation, in which the priest commends the person to God and the coffin is incensed.

If a Mass is not appropriate, for example because many of the mourners are not Catholic or a priest is not available, the funeral may be a funeral liturgy outside Mass, led by a priest or deacon.

3. The Committal

Finally, the body is taken to the cemetery or crematorium for the Rite of Committal: short prayers as the body is laid to rest or committed for cremation.

Planning the Funeral Mass

The priest or parish funeral coordinator will usually meet the family to plan the liturgy. You can help choose:

the readings, from Scripture: an Old Testament reading, a psalm, a New Testament reading, and the Gospel;
readers from among family and friends;
music, which should be suitable for worship: hymns, psalms and sacred music;
symbols of the person’s life, such as a Bible, a crucifix or a rosary, which may be placed on the coffin.

Eulogies and Personal Music

Families often want to speak about their loved one or play a favourite secular song. Practices vary by parish and diocese, so ask.

Generally, the Church’s guidance is:

A short word of remembrance by a family member or friend may be given, usually before the Final Commendation, at the vigil, or at the reception afterwards. It should be brief.
The homily is given by the priest, and focuses on the hope of the Resurrection and God’s mercy, rather than being a eulogy.
Secular music that was meaningful to the person is usually best played at the vigil, at the graveside, at the crematorium or at the wake, rather than during Mass.

The point is not to make the funeral impersonal. It is that the funeral Mass is first of all an act of worship and prayer for the person who has died, entrusting them to God’s mercy.

Who Can Have a Catholic Funeral?

All baptised Catholics may have a Catholic funeral. The Church may also allow a Catholic funeral for:

catechumens, people preparing for baptism;
children whose parents intended to baptise them but who died before baptism;
baptised non-Catholics, at the bishop’s discretion, if their own minister is unavailable and it is not against their wishes (canon 1183).

What about suicide?

In the past, people who died by suicide were sometimes denied a Church funeral. This is no longer the case. The Church recognises that grave psychological disturbance, anguish or fear can greatly diminish a person’s responsibility, and she prays for them and entrusts them to God’s mercy (CCC 2282–2283). A Catholic who has died by suicide is given a Catholic funeral.

Cremation

Can Catholics be cremated? Yes. Since 1963, the Church has permitted cremation, provided it is not chosen for reasons contrary to Christian faith, such as a denial of the resurrection of the body (canon 1176). The Church still prefers burial of the body, following the example of Christ’s own burial, but cremation is allowed.

If possible, the Church prefers that the funeral Mass be celebrated with the body present, and that cremation take place afterwards. But a funeral Mass can also be celebrated with the ashes present.

What should happen to the ashes?

In 2016, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith gave guidance in Ad resurgendum cum Christo:

The ashes should be kept in a sacred place: a cemetery, a church columbarium or another place set aside for this purpose.
They should not be scattered in the air, on land or at sea.
They should not be divided among family members, or made into jewellery or other objects.
They should not normally be kept at home.

The reason is respect for the body, which was a temple of the Holy Spirit and will rise again, and the importance of a place where family and the community can pray for the dead.

In December 2023, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith added two clarifications: ashes may be placed in a common sacred place, such as an ossuary, as long as the person’s name is recorded; and, at the family’s request, a small portion of the ashes may be kept in a place significant to the deceased’s life, provided this is not done for reasons contrary to the faith and the rest of the ashes are kept in a sacred place.

After the Funeral

The funeral is not the end of the Church’s care. Catholics continue to pray for the dead, especially by having Masses offered for them. (See How Do Catholics Pray for Someone Who Has Died?)

Christian Hope

A Catholic funeral is marked by grief but also by hope. The Preface of the Mass for the Dead says: “For Your faithful, Lord, life is changed, not ended.” The funeral entrusts the person to God, consoles the living, and proclaims that death does not have the last word.