Abstract
Britain was the first modern European country to adopt the widespread practice of cremation, and by 2010, it took place in around three-quarters of all funerals. Although the clergy had ceased to be the exclusive custodians of funeral ritual, their views and example remained highly significant in conveying approval, or disapproval, of cremation to their religious constituencies. This article explores attitudes to cremation amongst the English Anglican and Roman Catholic leadership in the twentieth century. In the first half of the century, a number of high-profile Anglican bishops promoted cremation by both teaching and example. The Roman Catholic Church, however, remained opposed to the practice, which it equated with atheism and inhumanity. Although the Catholic position began to soften from the 1960s, it is evident that some reticence about cremation remains. The different approaches to cremation illuminate a subtle religious and cultural fault line between the two ecclesial communities which has hitherto been little explored. The article highlights the role of the Cremation Society of Great Britain in working with members of both Churches to normalise cremation.
Highlights
On 14 August 1919, Edward Lee Hicks, bishop of Lincoln, died in Sussex
The Catholic position began to soften from the 1960s, it is evident that some reticence about cremation remains
The repeated restatement of the link between cremation and Freemasonry made it easier for the Catholic Church to change its position over time, for if cremation ceased to be associated with Masonic ritual and atheistic thought, and instead became the stated preference of at least some of the faithful, the objections to it began to lose their validity
Summary
On 14 August 1919, Edward Lee Hicks, bishop of Lincoln, died in Sussex. Hicks had had a high profile during the First World War as President of the Church of England Peace League, and was well known for his socially and theologically progressive views. Church leaders and the victory of ‘common sense’ Bishop Edward Lee Hicks had been an early advocate of what may be termed the ‘common sense’ approach to cremation, expressing his views on the matter in an article for the Manchester Guardian on 2 January 1908 It is a perfect early summary of what would become the typical English ‘common sense’ position on the subject: The growth of common sense, the pressure of large urban populations, and certain obvious considerations of space and health, have compelled reasonable people to look at the problem of burial with open minds. Addressing the Oxford Cremation Conference in 1938, Bishop Pollock of Norwich observed that ‘the Free Churches allow entire liberty, and have made no general pronouncement one way or another’.58
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