Father Maurice Carmody met the funeral directors — at the required social distance – by the roadside outside his home, which is close to the parish church, to conduct a simple funeral rite. Standing near the open rear door of the hearse, he said the prayers of final commendation while the family watched and prayed Read more
Across the country, five major groups like the one in Hastings have sprung up in recent years for people wanting to build and customise their caskets. They’re called coffin clubs, and members have a range of motivations, from thumbing a nose at death to warding off loneliness to cutting funeral costs. Read more
Large people should be charged more in cremation fees because of the extra time it takes to process the oversized coffins, the manager of Hastings cemeteries says. In a paper going before Hastings District Council this week, manager Isak Bester brings several matters to the councillors’ attention, including the extra time involved in cremating “oversize Read more
Catholic funerals for priests who die while facing accusations of sexual abuse are now subject to new rules in Ireland. The National Board for Safeguarding Children’s guidelines to church authorities include ways to discreetly conduct the funerals of clerics who had allegations made against them. Some dioceses have added to these guidelines. They say funerals Read more
There are plans afoot to introduce a Funeral Expenses Insurance plan to Samoa after recent focus group sessions recorded a positive response to the idea. But RNZ’s Samoa corespondent Autagavaia Tipi Autagavaia says families are more inclined to be traditional when it comes to funeral costs. “When you talk about a funeral in Samoa, every Samoan Read more
When a priest accused of sexual abuse dies, care should be taken as to how his funeral is conducted, new Irish child protection guidelines say. The National Board for Safeguarding Children published updated guidelines on Wednesday. They give recommendations if an accused priest dies before an investigation has concluded. In such a case, “careful thought Read more
The Priests’ Council in Wellington has asked funeral directors to ensure that their clients are not given the impression that payments relating to a church-based funeral are non-negotiable, or that Catholic clergy expect to be reimbursed for their service. “Please understand that we do not charge for our services. It would therefore be appreciated that Read more
When someone was legally dead? This is a question discussed by the Law Commission. It released a 252-page report Death, Burial and Cremation – a new law for contemporary New Zealand, last week. The report is a response to a request to undertake a first principles review of the Burial and Cremation Act 1964. While the report Read more
The Church of England has decided to change its rules to allow full funerals for people who died by suicide. The church’s General Synod voted overwhelmingly in favour of the change, by 262 votes to 5, with six abstentions. Church officials said the reform will bring ecclesiastical law into line with the 1961 Suicide Act Read more
A church minister, the undertaker and several pallbearers fell into a grave during the funeral of a young man in the town of Bethlehem, in central South Africa. A witness told the Afrikaans newspaper Volksblad that shortly after the coffin was lowered into the ground, a wooden plank on the edge of the burial pit Read more