Shroud burials in Mumbai? Not everyone is convinced

A shortage of space in cemeteries is forcing Christian communities to reuse graves, but bodies buried in coffins are not decomposing fast enough for burial spaces to be reused.

Last week, the head priest of a Catholic church in Thane issued a letter to members of the church, recommending that bodies should be buried in shrouds, and not in coffins.

The Catholic Church in Thane recommended that bodies should be buried in shrouds, and not in coffins (HT file photos)

A shortage of space in cemeteries is forcing Christian communities to reuse graves, but bodies buried in coffins are not decomposing fast enough for burial spaces to be reused. The letter from the Thane church said: ‘In view of the non-decomposition of bodies, we strictly recommend you to instruct parishioners to have shroud burials. Otherwise we will have to move the bodies for burial to Mumbai and that will increase cost and other difficulties’.

The St John Baptist Church, which issued the letter, is one of the oldest in the area, having first being built in the 16th century. The centuries-old cemetery is used by other churches that have come up more recently. The church cemetery is running out of burial space and the idea of shroud burials was first discussed in 2010, but the idea is yet to become popular. Father Francis Noronha, a priest at the church said that there have been a few shroud burials. “But not enough,” he added.

Many churchgoers in Mumbai agreed that the idea of shroud burials is a good one, and not just because of shortage of burial space. Coffins are expensive and require the cutting down of trees. Coffins take a long time to disintegrate in the soil and do not free-up grave space. “Many churches are following this (shroud burials); it makes sense,” said Caesar Baptista, a resident of Andheri.

But many members of the church, including Baptista, are upset with the tone of the letter. “The way the letter is written is not right. They should not issue a circular like this,” added Baptista. “You should have the freedom to choose how you want to bury your relatives and friends.”

Melwyn Fernandes, a parishioner of Our Lady of Mercy Church, Thane whose members also use the cemetery at St John Baptist Church, called the letter a ‘diktat’. “Even the head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, has not forced any Catholic to do this,” said Fernandes.

Crowded cemeteries are a problem across the world. Paris’s catacombs contain the remains of millions of bodies exhumed from overflowing graveyards. Churches in Eastern Europe have created grisly, but spectacular installations from skeletons taken from graveyards. Cremations have become popular in European cities where grave space is limited. In India, niche burials – where bodies are interred in concrete cubicles stacked above the ground – are becoming more common.

The church has used the example of Christ who is believed to have been buried in a shroud – there is a piece of fabric called the ‘Shroud of Turin’ with the imprints of a bearded man, but scholars are not sure about its authenticity – to convince people that early Christian burials did not use a coffin.

But the Thane parishioners are not convinced. “They five the example of Christ buried in a shroud, but it was not in a grave; scriptures say that the body was kept in a tomb,” said Fernandes.

Baptista suggested other ways to deal with the problem of shortage of burial space. “A few decades ago, the church in Orlem, Malad, had a problem. Bodies were not decomposing fast and graves could not be reused more often,” said Baptista. “They did a study and found that salt water – the area is near a creek - was entering the graves and this was the reason why the decomposition was slow. The church sorted the problem by controlling the infusion of salt water.”

Fernandes said the community should ask for cemetery land from the municipal corporation.