“Funerals are not a business”

To accompany people along the most painful part of life: the loss of a dear one and organizing the funeral. It is a delicate task that requires skill, closeness, along with a great degree of maturity. The Catholic Church in France has decided to meet this task already a few years ago by establishing “Catholic funeral homes at the service of mourning families”. The service offered by the Catholic Church turned out to an opportunity for evangelization, a time of deep spirituality for the interested families. In a word, a place of light and hope where people are taken by the hand and accompanied to process their loss, to rediscover the funeral rites of the Catholic Church and relate to death. This reality is gaining a certain degree of success, since, already present in Paris since the year 2000, these kinds of funeral homes were eventually set up also in Versailles and Bordeaux. Similar agencies have been opened a few days ago in the dioceses of Marseilles, Lyon and Fréjus-Toulon (info: www.s-c-f.org). To meet the needs of those in a state of suffering. After the great meeting of the French Church in Lourdes “Diakonia 2013”, the agencies’ renewed mission is to “meet the needs of those in a state of suffering”. Each structure is run by expert, salaried staff -just like normal funeral home services – and by trained volunteers. The endeavour is coordinated by parish priests and funeral pastoral care workers from single dioceses. The service is offered under the banner of tact and discretion from the moment when an interlocutor gets in touch with the family until the day of the funeral, proposing a customized support service. “One of our features – said Christian de Cacqueray, director of the ‘Service Catholique des funérailles’ – is the dimension of the relationship: it means that support to the family is not given by dedicated departments, as is the case with large cities, but by a single person who follows the entire process, thereby establishing a deep relationship with these people”. In this climate of welcome and trust, it is jointly decided in which form will be bid the last farewell to the departed ones. Often the families have no idea of the funeral rite, therefore a large part of the support activity consists in helping them discover its richness. The services provide for care of the deceased, management of administrative procedures, contacts with the parish and cemeteries, the preparation and publication of ads on newspapers or the sending of invitations, following the families’ wishes. Non-profit agencies. The pacts are clear: agencies and cooperatives working in these funeral home agencies – said de Cacqueray – must follow a “non-lucrative” logic. They must sign a written declaration stating that they are aware that they are “the depositories of a specific mission received by the Church”. That means that the structure must have a “non-profit target”, namely, with no “commercial purposes”. “Funerals are not a business – states the regulation of the service -, they represent a service that cannot be separated from the dimension of meaning the workers intend to provide. Thus instead of commercial services, the funeral service acknowledges a service to mankind and to his dignity. They are not a source of individual gain for its managers or shareholders”. A everlasting communion. On October 30 archbishop Georges Pontier blessed the venue of the new Catholic funeral service in his diocese. On the eve of All Saints’ Day and of the Commemoration of the deceased he spoke of those moments that “invite to cultivate a yearning for God”. In particular, All Saints’ day teaches us that we are in communion with our sisters and brothers in a spiritual union of friendship and love, without darkness”. He added: “I recently heard a mother speak of the deep communion she experienced with her child who died prematurely. She cultivated a thought of love for him and then suddenly she said: “nothing prevents me from being in communion with him”. This is what faith can produce. Such hope!”.