CEMETERY. — It is the place destined for the burial of the dead.
Christians in the early centuries, conforming to Roman laws which strictly forbade burying corpses within the city (Mortuorum reliquias, ne sanctum municipiorum ius polluatur, intra civitatem condi iam pridem vetitum est: *Codex Iustinianus*, 3, 44, 12), buried them, as has been said above, outside the walls in appropriate places. Later, the observance of these laws relaxed, and cemeteries began to arise beside churches, of which they soon became accessory parts. Within the churches themselves were deposited the remains of bishops, priests, and certain laypeople of outstanding virtue; but gradually the custom spread of burying all the faithful there (cf. Decree of Gratian, c. 18, C. XIII, q. 2), which led ecclesiastical authorities to introduce strict limitations.
The matter is now fully regulated by the *Codex Iuris Canonici*, which permits burial in churches only for the corpses of popes, cardinals, sovereigns, and, within their own church, residential bishops, abbots, and prelates *nullius*. Apart from these exceptions, all the faithful without distinction must receive burial in a cemetery that has been solemnly or simply blessed according to the rites described in the liturgical books (can. 1205).
Given that the place where the dead repose undoubtedly merits the title of sacred, it is evident that the Church claims for itself the full and absolute right to possess its own cemeteries (can. 1206 § 1). Should this right, as often happens, be violated without hope of reparation, ordinaries are obliged to ensure that civil cemeteries are blessed if those who are usually buried there are mostly Catholic, or at least that a special blessed area is reserved for Catholics (can. 1206 § 2). If even this cannot be achieved, individual graves must be blessed each time (can. 1206 § 3). Every parish must have its own cemetery, unless the ordinary has established one common to several parishes. Exempt religious may have their own cemetery, distinct from the common one; and the same faculty may be granted by the ordinary to other moral persons or private families (can. 1208 §§ 1–3).
In both parish cemeteries and those belonging to other moral persons, the faithful may, with written authorization from the ordinary or superior respectively, have private graves constructed for themselves and their relatives and subsequently alienate them. The graves of priests and clerics should, if possible, be separated from those of the laity and situated in a more decorous place; and, if not excessively difficult, the graves of priests should be distinguished from those of clerics of inferior orders. The remains of infants should also be reserved, where feasible, separate graves from the rest (can. 1209 §§ 1–3).
The cemetery must be suitably enclosed on all sides and carefully guarded (can. 1210). It is the duty of ordinaries, parish priests, and superiors to ensure that epitaphs, funeral orations, and grave decorations contain nothing contrary to Catholic faith and piety (can. 1211). For the burial of those to whom ecclesiastical burial is not granted (v.), can. 1212 prescribes that, if possible, a separate place be provided, distinct from the blessed cemetery but similarly enclosed and guarded.
The provisions laid down by the *Codex Iuris Canonici* regarding interdict, violation, and reconciliation of churches (v. *chiesa*) also apply to cemeteries (can. 1207), with the note that the violation of a church does not entail the violation of an adjacent cemetery, and vice versa (can. 1172 § 2), and that in a cemetery under interdict the bodies of the faithful may indeed be buried, but without any ecclesiastical rite (can. 2272 § 2).
The violation of graves or corpses, committed for the purpose of theft or other wicked motive, is punished by can. 2328 with personal interdict, incurred *ipso facto* infamy, and, if the offender is a cleric, also with deposition.
In Italian law. — The regulation of cemeteries is entrusted to numerous provisions of the communal and provincial law (3 March 1934, no. 383), the Consolidated Text of Health Laws (27 July 1934, no. 1265), and the regulation on mortuary police (Royal Decree, 21 December 1942, no. 1880). Every municipality must have a cemetery, the construction of which is governed by specific hygienic norms. Thus, for example, the cemetery cannot be located less than two hundred meters from inhabited centers, must have an area at least ten times larger than the space required for the number of dead to be buried each year, must be situated on friable, permeable, and dry terrain, etc.
(from V. Leroqonia, *Les pontificaux serfs des bibliothèques publiques de France*, Paris 1933, III, pl. III) Cemetery — Blessing of a cemetery. Roman Pontifical (early 16th century) — Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, ms. lat. 1226, vol. I, fol. 22.
The so-called secularization of cemeteries, completed at the end of the last century, means that in addition to burial by inhumation (in graves dug in the ground) and entombment (in tombs or niches), cremation in special furnaces is permitted (v. *defunti*), and no distinction is made at the entrance to the cemetery between bodies of persons entitled to ecclesiastical burial and those deprived of II.
Cemeteries form part of the municipal demesne; but this does not exclude the real and perpetual right that individual concessionaires of niches or areas for the construction of individual, family, or particular community tombs may acquire.
Notable are the provisions of the Penal Code regarding the crimes of violation of a grave (art. 407) and contempt of tombs or objects destined for the cult of the dead (art. 408), punished respectively with imprisonment from one to five years and from six months to three years.
LITURGY. — The cemetery is a sacred place and as such must be blessed, as the Roman Ritual (tit. VI) prescribes.
There are two distinct rites, both for the blessing and for the reconciliation of cemeteries. The first is pontifical and reserved exclusively to the bishop; the second, simpler, pertains to a priest, even if delegated by the bishop. The first is found in the Pontifical, the second in the Roman Ritual.
The principal elements of the solemn (pontifical) rite of blessing cemeteries appear between the 10th and 13th centuries; the sprinkling with holy water and the recitation of the Litany of the Saints are attested in the 10th century, the erection of five crosses and the recitation of the seven penitential psalms
Penitential rites in the 13th century. Meanwhile, other elements were incorporated, such as the Miserere and various psalms, etc.
The complete form of the solemn blessing is found first in the Pontificale of Durandus (ed. M. Andrieu, Le Pontifical romain au moyen âge, III: Le Pontifical de Guillaume Durand [Studi e Testi, 88], Città del Vaticano 1940, pp. 504-18). However, the earliest elements already appear in a collection of formulas in codex 54 of the Civic Library of Bamberg (11th century); cf. M. Andrieu, op. cit. in bibl., pp. 63 ff.
If the cemetery is contiguous to the church, it cannot be considered indirectly or occasionally blessed by the holy water it receives when the bishop proceeds to the external blessing of the church (P. J. De Herdt, Sacrae Liturgiae praxis, III, Louvain 1870, p. 290).
Four crosses are planted at the four sides of the cemetery and one in the center near the large cross that is to stand there permanently. The ceremony begins with an address by the bishop; then the litany of the saints is recited or sung, with three special final invocations for the purification, blessing, sanctification, and consecration of the place.
After preparing the holy water, the bishop sprinkles it around the walls of the cemetery and incenses them, stopping before each cross, incensing it and fixing three candles on it—one at the top and the other two on the arms.
Meanwhile, the penitential psalms are sung, followed by a prayer that encapsulates the entire liturgical spirit of the ceremony. After the incensation of the central cross and the singing of a penitential psalm, there is a cry of hope and piety, an appeal to the merciful Christ who will grant immortality to our bodies. As in all other solemn rites of the Church, the ceremony concludes with an inspirational prayer and a Preface that develops the informing concept of all the prayers of consecration.
The rite of blessing, on the other hand, is simpler and is contained in the Roman Ritual, tit. VIII, cap. 29. A cross is planted in the middle of the cemetery, and the celebrant, vested in sacred vestments, says a prayer and intones the litany of the saints. He then sprinkles the cross and the surrounding cemetery while the Miserere is sung.
The blessing of tombs refers to funerary chapels (Decr. S. Congr. dei Riti, nn. 3400, 3524), which, in order to allow the celebration of Mass, must be constructed so that the corner of the altar is at least one meter away from the side tombs; no corpse may be buried facing or beneath the altar (CIC, can. 1202).
When the cemetery has not been consecrated or blessed, each grave must be blessed with the formula from the Roman Ritual, tit. VI, cap. 3, n. 12 before the burial of the corpse.