In a time when we seemingly embrace new technologies every day, alkaline hydrolysis and body composting have been gaining attention as potential alternatives to the traditional practices of full body burial and total incendiary cremation and interment in the Catholic Church. While these practices have sparked discussion, guidance from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is clearly not in favor of these methods.
Alkaline hydrolysis, sometimes referred to as “water cremation,” “resomation,” or “aquamation,” has been more widely available in recent years from the funeral service industry in the United States. The process involves the reduction of human remains in a heated solution of water and a robust alkaline mixture, which leaves behind minerals and bone fragments that are then collected and returned to the family. In body composting, the human body is placed in plant matter in such a way as to speed the decomposition of the body. This process does not yield any discernable remains to be buried or interred.
At the moment, the universal Church has not issued a definitive teaching on these novel practices, but bishops and pastors throughout the world have generally opposed them for many years. The Church has always preferred the burial of the entire body or, otherwise, the committal of the remains of an incendiary cremation in a permanent resting place. This ancient practice is due to the Christian belief that the body is the sacred vessel. The body is animated by a soul directly created by God and endowed with the intellect and will. God spiritually nourishes men and women through their bodily experience of the sacraments that communicate sanctifying grace to the soul.
Alkaline hydrolysis and body composting, however, are generally understood to violate the sacredness of the human body, as if the body is ordinary material that can be dissolved or eradicated after this earthly life is finished. Instead, we know that Christ will raise our bodies and transform them in the life to come. Our cemeteries, church yards and columbariums become a place of joyful hope in the resurrection and places to pray for the faithful departed.
With growing awareness of these new technologies, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Doctrine Committee offered an official statement to guide individuals and families in choosing the best option for the treatment of the human body after death. In the March 2023 statement, U.S. bishops’ Doctrine Committee Issues Statement “On The Proper Disposition of Bodily Remains,” Catholics are reminded that the Church considers burial as the most appropriate method, expressing faith in the resurrection. Cremation is permitted except when it is for reasons contrary to the Catholic faith or the cremated remains will be divided or scattered. The committee evaluated alkaline hydrolysis and human composting, concluding that these methods do not meet the Church’s requirements for respecting the bodies of the deceased. Concluding its statement, the committee said that Catholics may not choose these new methods of body disposal, and emphasized the importance of respecting bodily existence throughout life and after death, reflecting faith in the resurrection.
— Father Noah C. Carter. Father Noah Carter is director of the diocese’s Divine Worship Office and pastor of Holy Cross Parish in Kernersville.