The events
that followed the death of Paul Kato Lubwama (RIP) left many people with
divided opinions about who qualifies for a Catholic Christian burial
and who does not qualify for the same!
I am writing to provide the theological
and catechetical background to understanding the operations of the Holy
Church, coupled with recent insinuations!
Since her
foundation 2,023 years ago, the Catholic Church has experienced steady
growth and expansion throughout the world, guiding her children towards
eternal salvation, and making enormous contributions in every sphere of
genuine human development.
Every now and then, however, she finds
herself confronted with questions that need clear answers, in such
matters as doctrine, worship and moral conduct.
Is an
ecclesiastical funeral a must for every baptized? is one of the
intriguing questions! In the Holy Catholic Church, an ecclesiastical
funeral is the celebration of the funeral rites in the Holy Mass. This
is designed to offer worship, praise and thanksgiving to God for a life,
which has now been returned to God, the author of life and the hope of
the just.
The Church, as an institution, is
governed according to a system of laws developed over time, in
accordance with the Gospel of her Divine Founder. The compendium of
these laws is referred to as the Code of Canon Law.
According to canons 1176-1185 of the
code, an ecclesiastical funeral is an act by which the Church seeks
spiritual support for the deceased, honours their bodies, and at the
same time offers the solace of hope to the living.
During the ecclesiastical funeral, the
baptised escort this individual person to the journey’s end in order to
surrender him to the Father’s hands. This presupposes a consistent life
of communion a person has lived with other members of the church
participating in all that characterizes Christian life.
It is not the desire of the Catholic Church that any of her faithful should end up being denied an ecclesiastical funeral!
Accordingly, Catholic faithful who have
tried to live by their faith, and those under instruction in the faith
(catechumens) must be accorded ecclesiastical funerals. After prudent
consideration by the local ordinary (Bishop), an ecclesiastical funeral
can be granted to a non-baptized child born to Catholic parents, or to a
baptized person who belonged to a non-Catholic church, if deemed
expedient.
Only in those cases in which the
deceased, during their lifetime, freely, notoriously and persistently
renounced the Catholic faith or lived contrary to the Gospel does the
Church deny them an ecclesiastical funeral.
The Church can never deny one an
ecclesiastical funeral without substantial evidence and reasons because
the Church never victimises her children. The church never condemns her
children who fall short of grace by sinning because to sin is human;
instead, she discourages and condemns the sinful acts, not individuals.
The person who in sound mind
exclusively, externally and categorically in clear terms denounced the
faith denies him/herself an ecclesiastical funeral.
Some kinds of people must be denied
ecclesiastical funerals, unless they gave some signs of repentance
before death. These include; notorious apostates that have totally
disowned the faith; heretics that have definitively held doctrines
contrary to the faith and have obstinately refused to recant their
views; schismatics that have joined or formed other churches and
traditional shrines; those who choose cremation of their own bodies for
reasons contrary to Christian faith (such as the resurrection), and
notorious public sinners in whose case an ecclesiastical funeral would
constitute a public scandal. In absolute terms, anyone who, with the
most basic knowledge of Catholic faith and morals, considers those cases
with a truly objective mind will be able to appreciate the rationale
behind the Church’s decision.
Even in such cases, however, it is not
the Church’s intention to judge or condemn the deceased. She leaves that
judgment to God. She, however, has the duty of protecting her faithful
and other people on earth from the scandal that would arise from
honouring with an ecclesiastical funeral a person who notoriously
opposed her faith during their lifetime.
She also has a duty to send a warning to
her faithful to avoid those kinds of behaviour that could imperil their
eternal salvation.
Turning to Kato Lubwama’s case, some
might object that his public proclamations and practice of pre-Christian
religion were simply a cultural issue that should not have led him to
being denied a church funeral. First, it should be clearly borne in mind
that the Catholic religion is not opposed to culture, per se.
According to the late Fr John Mary
Waliggo, culture is the way of life, history, religion, belief, values,
identity and philosophy of a people. Considering this richness of
culture, its total rejection would be an evident disservice to the
Gospel, since integral evangelization cannot occur except in the actual
context in which the people live.
There are innumerable treasures in every
culture that the Church must not only promote but also harness for her
work of evangelisation (inculturation). This is part of the process of
“inculturation,” by which the Gospel and the culture enrich each other.
Seeking God through pre-Christian
worship and practices is totally opposed to the Church’s faith, and is
sufficient reason for denial of an ecclesiastical funeral!
Whoever subscribes to them clearly opposes the Catholic faith and rightly loses the right to a church funeral.
The author is the director of communications and public relations of Kampala Archdiocese.
