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Los Angeles, CA 90026
Canon 1176
§1. Deceased members of the Christian faithful must be given ecclesiastical funerals according to the norm of law.
[[[Others who are eligible for an ecclesiastical funeral include:
- Catechumens
- Children whom the parents intended to baptize but who died before baptism, and
- "In the prudent judgment of the local ordinary, ecclesiastical funerals can be granted to baptized persons who are enrolled in a non-Catholic Church or ecclesial community unless their intention is evidently to the contrary and provided that their own minister is not available" (canon 1183.3).]]]
§2. Ecclesiastical funerals, by which the Church seeks spiritual support for the deceased, honors their bodies, and at the same time brings the solace of hope to the living, must be celebrated according to the norm of the liturgical laws.
§3. The Church earnestly recommends that the pious custom of burying the bodies of the deceased be observed; nevertheless, the Church does not prohibit cremation unless it was chosen for reasons contrary to Christian doctrine.