Court says cremains buried next to former Episcopal Church can't be removed just because the church has been sold to a Coptic parish, which opposes cremation
The Massachusetts Appeals Court ruled today that cremated remains of former members of the Church of the Holy Spirit in Wayland can't be disinterred and moved elsewhere now that the building has become a Coptic Orthodox church - which does not believe in cremation and which wants the land for its own uses.
The appeals court concluded that when people purchased spaces for cremains burial they were promised "perpetual care" and that while the Copts have First Amendment rights, so do the families whose familial remains are buried there. The Episcopal diocese approved the sale of the church due to declining membership and the church struck a deal with a Coptic Orthodox congregation in Natick in 2015 - on the condition the cremains be moved.
In its ruling, the court said:
It is uncontested that the Coptic church has a sincerely held opposition to cremation on religious grounds. The next question, however, is whether judicial relief in favor of the families would substantially burden the Coptic church's exercise of its religious beliefs. When that church freely took title to the property, the cremated remains that the Coptic church now seeks to have removed already had been committed to the ground there. Under these circumstances, we fail to see how a judicial order preventing the Coptic church from removing those remains would constitute government interference with that church's free exercise of religion rights. And it bears noting that the unilateral disinterment of the remains potentially might implicate the families' own free exercise of religion rights.
Lawyers for the two churches also argued that whatever rights the families who objected to disinterment - many families gave their OK - were rooted in "common law" dating back centuries, but that such law became moot in 1815, when the state enacted legislation dealing with disinterment, and by an 1871 case in which Trinity Church sought to disinter bodies buried under its original building on Summer Street when it moved to its present location in what is now Copley Square.
The court, however, dismissed both arguments.
The 1815 law, it said, was intended to deal with what was then an epidemic of grave robbing to supply doctors with cadavers for medical training, while the 1871 case dealt with the public-health concerns of leaving bodies behind when the church moved. Neither applies in Wayland, the court said, adding that a case in which another church was allowed to disinter remains over the objections of family members also does not apply because the family members in that case were eight generations removed from the bodies and their burying ground had not been maintained, so nobody even knew where exactly the bodies were buried, "the cemetery was no longer recognizable as such; the grave sites could not be located and only shards of headstones could be found."
The court agreed there are extenuating circumstances that could allow disinterment, but that the sale of the church is not one of of them, it is "not some exogenous
development such as the opening of a sink hole" but rather a voluntary sale.
The court did not deal with the issue of what happens next:
We recognize that our reversal of the judgment leaves many issues unresolved, such as the parties' specific rights and obligations with respect to the maintenance of the remaining burial lots and the families' access to them.
The court said that because those issues did not really come up during the appeals process, it was leaving them to a Superior Court judge to figure out through more hearings and legal arguments.
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Comments
Contract trumps religious beliefs
If the sale included a provision that the cremains not be removed then that was a promise. So-callled religious freedom does not free anyone from fulfilling a promise. Make a promise and break it makes one a liar.
The concept of religious rights is turning into a tool abused by religionists to intimidate and abuse others to bend to the religionists’ will.
I did not read carefully. I see that the condition included that the cremains were relocated.
Doesn’t change the argument though that “religious rights” have become the club used to intimidate the opposition.
What I hear when the word God is used: Us. In other words the name God and its variations are an acceptable way to refer to a collective narcissism. Our good is better than your god = We are better than you. God bless us = We hope that luck favors us. Our religion is true and yours is false = We’re right, you’re wrong, now either leave or die.
It all comes down to religions which usually are projections of our own needs, desires and depending on the charisma, narcissism, as in group narcissism.
God needs religion like an apple needs a fish bone.
Sale included a provision that the cremains WOULD be removed
My understanding of Adam's write-up is that the sale included a provision that the cremains would be removed. However, some families of those cremated and buried there don't want their loved ones removed.
The two churches came to an agreement. The problem seems to be that the Episcopal Church didn't do its job to work this out with the families of those in its cemetery. Whether or not one agrees with the Coptic Church's theology, it does not look like they are at fault in this situation.
Yeah, what's the established
Yeah, what's the established precedent when a cemetery owner wants to move the remains without getting permission from all of the families? Can the owner make an agreement to sell the cemetery and remove the remains, or are they required to keep the remains in place and any agreement with families to keep the remains buried in perpetuity must remain in force with the new owner?
That ruling sounds as though
That ruling sounds as though the precedent is that they can't move the remains without the permission of the families of the people who are buried there. We generally talk about buying a cemetery plot, not about "leasing" it.
No, that's not convenient for either church--but "because we want to" isn't grounds for invalidating a contract, or for letting you sell me something that you already sold to someone else.
Text is a little unclear...
Did the Coptic church impose the condition on the Episcopal church (i.e. remove the ashes before handing over the property) or did the Episcopal church impose the condition on the Coptic church (i.e. remove the ashes after you take possession of the property)? Or is there a missing "not"?
They don't believe in cremation?
I'm pretty sure the cremation occured. What don't they believe?
The wrong magic words were said at burial?
What would Jesus do?
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
"Don't believe in" doesn't
"Don't believe in" doesn't mean "don't believe the practice exists". It means they don't do it themselves, probably because they believe it's disrespectful.
I'm aware of that
I wasn't being literal, I was trying to be humorous.... It failed with you I suppose
You can get cremated if you
You can get cremated if you want, but we believe you're going to burn for it.
Trinity Church 1871?
Would love to know what happened to the bodies after the church burned in 1872?
Mount Auburn
https://mountauburn.org/bostons-trinity-church-destroyed-by-fire-1872/
Thank You
Phillips Brooks had the quote "I didn't realize how much I loved the old pile until it was aflame".
I don't understand their
I don't understand their argument. The rationale behind cremation is it ruins the body for resurrection. There were presence of the remains isn't any worse than any other remains. Nobody is forcing them to conduct a cremation.
Probably about spiritual significance
If the church doesn't recognize that cremated remains have any sort of spiritual meaning, then they may not feel an obligation to maintain those remains in their current location. It can go further; if church doctrine holds the practice of cremation to be heretical, then the known presence of cremated remains on church property would obviously be problematic.
Seems like the best solution might be to have the plot containing the cremated remains severed from the sale and placed into some sort of trust or retained by the religious group (presumably Episcopal) which currently owns it.
They just don't want to have to deal with the remains
Yes the Coptic's don't believe in cremation, but the real reason they are playing that card, is that they simply want the land free-and-clear. If they move the remains, they can build something on that land. If not, it's a white elephant that they have to deal with for all eternity.
The Judge also said
if Shaft is buried there, we can dig it.
You're damn right
n/t
"wants the land for its own uses"
Probably has more to do with this than with them being opposed to cremation.
Isn't "cremated remains" the
Isn't "cremated remains" the same as "dirt"?
I know, right?
Don't most cremated "people" just get scattered somewhere of their choosing?
Mostly ground-up bone
and some gritty ash. Not really dirt, per se.
Having scattered them...
Having scattered ashes, I suggest you think "aquarium gravel". Don't expect fine ash that will fly with the wind.
I've experienced both
gritty gray powder as well as aquarium gravel bits. It all depends how much the bones are crushed after cremation.
So... it's some of the
So... it's some of the families suing both churches?
Is there a deed restriction or zoning restriction on use of this land?
Actually the two churches
Actually the two churches sued some families when the families said "No, we have bought care in perpetuity"
Boomers lead the way
Come on boomers, you got the cheap housing and great economy, left us with your detritus, since you’re next in line to die (after you spend all your savings) the least you can do is lead the way on re-thinking our costly and absurd reverence of corpses.
Sounds like they had the right idea 200 years ago: “1815 … epidemic of grave robbing to supply doctors with cadavers for medical training.”
What is resurrectio?
One interpretation of resurrection according to Pauline theology is that those resurrected from the dead will return in their corporeal form. Therefore cremation destroys that form which means that the individual can not be resurrected.
That is a problem often embedded in ancient religions. Their interpretations of reality were simply wrong. Believing that the body of the saved would never decompose because they were saved is superstition. Just as the interpretations of ancient religions in matters of sex, gender and sexuality, as well as slavery and family and government structure were just wrong. Example: government structure based in kings, royalty, religious castes and family structure where husbands rule and wives obey.
Disturbing Graves
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzbjOIFfMiA