Cardinal George Alencherry The Synod of the Bishops of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church has recommended setting up crematoriums in dioceses amid the worsening Covid-19 pandemic.
“Though burying the dead bodies is the practice in the Church, the (Eastern-rite) canon law permits cremation in times of pandemic,” said a statement from Cardinal George Alencherry, major archbishop of the Church.
The synod said remains should be buried in cemeteries.
The Covid-19 situation in India has been worsening; India, with more than 4.3 million cases, is now second after the United States.
“Burying the Covid bodies poses a serious challenge to the church in Kerala due to our high density of population and crammed cemeteries,” Syro-Malabar Bishop Pauly Kannookadan of Irinjalakuda told Catholic News Service.
Density
Kerala state, a 360-mile strip of land on the Arabian Sea coast, has a population density three times the national average. The state has nearly 35 million people, 18% of whom are Christian.
Church cemeteries are short of burial space for Covid-19 protocols, which call for deep graves.
“I proposed (in July) cremation before burying the ashes in the church cemetery with the funeral prayers. I had to face a lot of backlash for that,” Bishop Kannookadan said.
Police registered a criminal case and even arrested a Catholic for making a derogatory video against the bishop and sharing it on social media for his proposal of adopting the Hindu tradition of cremating the dead.