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PDF versionLay your loved ones to rest the natural way
Apr. 21, 2009
Fr. Charles Morris stands in the new “green” section of Mt. Carmel Cemetery in Wyandotte, Mich. (Joe Kohn/The Michigan Catholic)
Mt. Carmel Cemetery, located in Wyandotte, Mich., near Detroit, has become the first U.S. Catholic cemetery to offer a green burial option.
Green burial is a natural process by which a deceased person is laid to rest without embalmment, entombment or the use of non-biodegradable materials. Mt. Carmel Cemetery recently became certified by the Green Burial Council, a New Mexico-based nonprofit that certifies cemeteries and funeral homes nationwide.
The cemetery is considered a “hybrid” because it also continues to inter people in the traditional way.
The 12-and-a-half-acre cemetery, first used in 1865, will dedicate a half acre to burial without embalming or vaults. Caskets used in the green burial section will be biodegradable, and families will have the option to substitute shrouds, or even a favorite blanket, in place of the casket.
On learning that no other Catholic cemetery in the country offered green burials, Fr. Charles Morris, Mt. Carmel’s administrator, set out to remedy that, and perhaps in the process alter Catholics’ views of how to bury the dead.
“There is no more appropriate way to honor our Catholic Christian tradition of Resurrection faith than by fitting into a natural cycle of death and rebirth where we honor both our loved ones and God’s good earth,” said Morris.
“While some may regard this form of burial as odd, remember that Jesus was laid to rest in a shroud without embalming or a burial vault. This has been the way Christians have honored their loved ones throughout most of the church’s 2,000 years.”
“It’s great that Mt. Carmel and other members of the religious community are beginning to take the lead in reclaiming their end-of-life rituals,” said Joe Sehee, executive director of the Green Burial Council, which now has more than 200 approved death-care providers in its national network, including 26 funeral homes in Michigan.
A green burial is a cremation alternative and a viable alternative to “traditional” burial practices in the United States, Sehee said. “It is earth-friendly. Many families choose cremation because it’s seen as more environmentally friendly than traditional burial. Embalming, expensive sealed caskets and burial vaults are not required by law. Though traditional memorial parks may require them, a green cemetery or memorial nature preserve does not.” The simplicity of a green burial is in tune with nature and need not be expensive, according to Sehee.
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Morris said, “We want to make the green burial area at Mt. Carmel a meditative space. Tombstones lay flat on the ground, not upright. We’re installing a rain collection system to water the native Michigan landscaping that will set the green burial plots apart from the rest. We’ve contracted with Heart and Soul Landscaping, a local firm.”
Morris said that it’s also not necessary with a green burial to dig a grave as deep as with a conventional burial. “We have to dig only three feet. Jute mesh cloth is used and the body decomposes within months.”
It is clear that nature has intended that our bodies be reunited with the earth, said Morris. “All organisms that have lived have died and returned to the soil, only to be recycled into new life. Constant microbial activity in the soil breaks everything down. Nature creates no waste. Everything is recycled. In a green burial, water is not wasted, nor are pesticides and herbicides used in attempts to control nature. Instead, a green cemetery allows nature take its course. Planting native trees, shrubs and flowers in a loved one’s honor promotes habitat restoration.”
“If you ask people, they don’t want any of this stuff,” said Sehee, referring to the traditional American way of burial. “Half of what they spend money on is because they think they have to because it’s required by law -- mainly caskets and embalming fluid. That’s really some toxic stuff that no one should be exposed to, let alone put in the ground. And it doesn’t serve any purpose.”
Jim Alexander, sexton of Mt. Carmel Cemetery and a parishioner at Morris’ parish, St. Elizabeth, said the green burial section will be noticeably different from the rest of the grounds.
“It’s still new, so we’re working on different types of grasses,” Alexander said. For the sake of families who use the cemetery, he’s happy Mt. Carmel offers green burial.
“Everybody is going to have an option here,” he said.
Rich Heffern is an NCR staff writer. His e-mail address is rheffern@ncronline.org.
I like this green idea,
I like this green idea, however digging a grave only three feet deep makes no sense at all. It doesn't take any additional time at all to go to the usual 6 feet. By limiting the digging of a grave to only 3 feet one allows access by groundhogs, gophers and other foraging animals who will no doubt scent the decaying flesh in such a shallow grave. Also, if two members of the immediate family die within a relatively short period of time, there is no chance to bury on the same spot. Happy Easter! Christ is Risen! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Actually, we are still
Actually, we are still digging graves at the six feet level. What the reference here is that with the jute mesh and the passage of at least a year we now have the option of burying two bodies in the same grave -- such as a husband and a wife. The next body would be at the three foot level. This could save costs in that two people could share the same grave.
Biological activity occurs
Biological activity occurs near the soil surface where more oxygen is available. And, we need them little critters to break down the bodily remains into plant available nutrients. Isn't it cool to know that the elements that are now contained in our bodies will be passed on to foster new life?!
This sounds really good to
This sounds really good to me. Everything but the flat tombstones. I like seeing the markers in a graveyard. It gives you the definite feel of how many people are laid to rest in the area. The flat stones make it easy to mow and look like a park but it doesn't give you the feel of how many people are there - how special yet insignificant we are which to me is an important part of the burial process.
My husband and I decided long ago we didn't want embalming and were surprised but happy to find our two adult children thought the same way (we never thought about it while we were young enough that the kids were home with us). In fact, we all independently came to the idea that we want plain wooden coffins instead of fancy manmade ones also.
Very interesting article.
Very interesting article. Those interested should note that many states do require enbalming if the body is not claimed within 24 hours of death, which is the law in Texas.
It was my understanding that
It was my understanding that members of the Trappist Community were buried at Gethsemene in Louisville, Ky., without casket, etc.; i.e. Green. Is this not so? I would be interested in hearing if this is so.
It is so. I was at
It is so. I was at Gethsemane and there was a funeral for a brother. I was able to go out and experience the burial. It was beautiful. I've often thought that I would live that kind of burial.
So, how does one request a
So, how does one request a green burial in their local area if it's not already part of the funeral systems? I'd like to see more written about this.
I am curious if the plot is
I am curious if the plot is just rented for a period of time, or it is purchased? Are there regulations for when another person can be interred in the same spot?
The Trappis Communinity in
The Trappis Communinity in Conyers, Ga have a green cemetery.
No matter how you look at it,
No matter how you look at it, the entire funeral process is the "final screwing" at a time when families are not emotionally prepared to be rational in the many expensive choices they must make. The church makes it no less easy (and no less expensive) by almost never advocating cost-saving and simple funeral arrangements. Many years back, Father William Bausch started a lower cost way of conducting funerals-- viewing in church, no limousines, repasts at the parish, etc. Ironically, this was in a very wealthy area (Colt's Neck, NJ). Whether the initiative continues, I do not know!
I love this idea! Are there
I love this idea! Are there any cemeteries in Ohio or Illinois that offer this green burial option?
I just read the comment about
I just read the comment about Mt. Carmel from Snowdrop. Actually the reality was that we will still go down five feet for the first person to be buried in that plot. Jute mesh is used at the three foot level so that spouses could be buried at the same plot provided that there is sufficient time of separation between burials [a year or more]. This will also potentially save on costs. Michigan law does currently require burial within 48 hours if the body is not to be embalmed. However, the Green Burial Council is looking at natural embalming fluid that bio-degrades very soon and is made from natural material.
Years ago, when my husband
Years ago, when my husband and I lost our third child -- an infant -- we had a 'green' burial -- the casket was wooden, and there was no embalming materials used. However, to address the problem of gophers, groundhogs or rats (horrors, the grave diggers covered the casket with lime prior to filling in the grave with dirt. I assumed that this was an ancient practice -- it makes sense to do it.
Expensive burial vaults make little sense -- this is far more Christian -- and makes 'dust thou art and unto dust thou shalt return' a reality we should cherish instead of fearing it.
Or, you can give your body to
Or, you can give your body to science. A body is a wonderfully made thing, too good to waste.
It's worth noting that the
It's worth noting that the "green burial" movement represents something of a return to Jewish tradition, which for at least 2000 years has required burial in the ground within 24 hours (if possible), without embalming, in a biodegradable plain pine box without metal.
I think that "green burial"
I think that "green burial" is a veery practical. reverent and environmentally
conscious way of laying our loved one's to rest. It is certainly in keeping with our early Christian heritage and shows no disrespect for the body now devoid of the soul.
I do agree with the earlier contributor who suggested a deeper grave to avoid animals coming upon the deceased, but that would depend on the burial place and how the space is protected. I also agree with the flat stones as markers.The idea of vertical markers hearkans back to the elaboate tombstones which over-exemplified the burial place of prominent individuals or families. I like the military quotation that "we are all equal in death".
I believe that my wife and I will strongly consider this type of burial for ourselves and recommend it to our grown children.
Sounds like a fine idea...
Sounds like a fine idea...
For many Cloistered Discalced
For many Cloistered Discalced Carmelites (the order of Carmelites that St. Therese of Lisieux, as well as St. Theresa of Avila, belonged to) their old tradition was burial in a "simple" pine-wood coffin-box.
The problem is that even since the 1970's many Carmelites found that a "simple" pine-wood box was not so simple anymore; and had actually become rather expensive.
In the context of wood having become more scarce for decades now, a natural earth burial, in my humble opinion, is in the spirit of holy simplicity, and holy poverty, that Carmelites have aspired to live up to.
I think the great Doctor of the Church, St. Theresa of Avila, O.C.D. [Order of Carmelites, Discalced] would have chosen a back-to-nature burial, if she were doing her reforming work today.
The Trappist Community of
The Trappist Community of Holy Spirit Monastery, Conyers, GA, have st aside a portion of their property as Georgia's first green burial ground, named Honey Creek Woodlands. This green cemetery is "for all faiths, deep in the heart of the 2,100 acre grounds of the Monastery of the Holy Spirit. The burial ground is nestled into more than 500 acres of permanently protected wetlands and wooded streams, and is itself being protected forever by a strong conservation easement and an endowment created from a portion of plot sales" accoding to words from the abbot, Dom Francis Michael Stiteler, OCSO, as they appear in the Honey Creek Woodlands brochure.
I don't know which would be
I don't know which would be greener, to take up so much space in a cemetery with a stone and burial or just simple cremation. I'm sure cremation releases greenhouse gases but it does solve the space problem. Perhaps the Tibetan
way of leaving the deceased out for the various animals to devour them is the best, no waste. I cremated both my parents and had a big tussle with the funeral parlor. They wanted me to buy a coffin and have her cremated in the coffin. It's all about money. I'm sure what ever is done that lessens the profit of the funeral industry will be met with protest.
I do agree with you!
I do agree with you!
Here is the link to the
Here is the link to the Monastery of the Holy Spirit's Green Cemetery.
http://www.trappist.net/commerce/burial_ground.htm
The Monastery of the Holy
The Monastery of the Holy Spirit's green cemetery has been in operation for over a year now, so I think it qualifies as the "first" Catholic green cemetery in the USA.
IT SEEMS STRANGE THAT THIS
IT SEEMS STRANGE THAT THIS ANCIENT FORM OF BURIAL SEEMS A FAD, RIGHT NOW. JUST ASK DOM FRANCIS, OCSO - THOSE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN DOING THIS FOR OVER A MILLENIUM. OF COURSE, IT DEPENDS ON THE CLIMATE ALSO, AND THE SURROUNDING SOIL. SIMPLICITY IS ALWAYS KEEPS US ON KEEL AS MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN OF GOD!
Sounds like a fine idea ...
Sounds like a fine idea ...
Is there a green cemetery in
Is there a green cemetery in Missouri, near st louis?
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