EWTN.com - Time between death and burial

EWTN.com - Time between death and burial: "Time between death and burial


Hello EWTN, Thank you for taking my question. I am a deacon of the Catholic Church. I am friends with a large extended family. I have found out that one of the family members has had several urns of cremated remains of family members for several years. I have offered my help. One of the family members said she heard that the time between death and burial to a proper place is one year. I have looked in 'Order of Christian Funerals' and the Canon Law books and could not find out where that one year time frame came from. That will help convince the rest of the family for a proper burial. May God bless, Deacon Bert

Answer by Rev. Mark J. Gantley, JCL on 10/29/2008:

There is no deadline required for burial. A year, however, seems excessive. Burial of human bodies or cremated remains of a human body should be within a reasonable time. A year does not seem reasonable to me. I cannot see any reason to delay burial for that long."