The following information summarizes the Guidelines for Funerals and Burials for use in the Catholic Dioceses of British Columbia and the Yukon. It provides general information of assistance to the Catholic community — and to others engaged in providing services — when a death occurs. For more complete instructions, please refer to the Guidelines themselves, which have been distributed to Catholic parishes and funeral homes throughout the area.

Church authority has the obligation and the responsibility to determine which of the various parts of its funeral rite are appropriate for its members and what form these rites will take. The regulations found in these Guidelines have their foundation in the general law of the Church and related liturgical directives.

For some, death is annihilation; for others, it is senseless and has no meaning. But, for the Christian, death is a transition to a new and never-ending life.

“Life is changed, not ended,” and “when the body of our earthly dwelling lies in death, we gain an everlasting dwelling place in heaven”. This is possible because in Christ, “who rose from the dead, our hope of resurrection has dawned. The sadness of death gives way to the bright promise of immortality.” (Preface of the Mass, Christian Death I).

APPROVED IN 1999 FOR USE IN THE DIOCESES OF BRITISH COLUMBIA AND THE YUKON, REPLACING ALL PREVIOUS GUIDELINES AND DIRECTIVES