Everyone’s talking about the odd and seemingly extremely imprudent document released two days ago by the DDF. I’ll leave that to others for now. I will perhaps have some thoughts to share at a later time.

For now, let’s go back a second to the document recently released by the DDF on cremation. Remember that? It was a whole 11 days ago. It seems like forever.

We read in the text, “Our faith tells us that we will be raised with the same bodily identity, which is material (like every creature on earth), even though that matter will be transfigured, freed from the limitations of this world. The resurrection will be “in this flesh in which we now live” (Formula “Fides Damasi”); in this way, any harmful dualism between the material and immaterial is avoided. This transformation, however, does not imply the recuperation of the identical particles of matter that once formed the human being’s body. Therefore, the body of the resurrected person will not necessarily consist of the same elements that it had before it died. Since it is not a simple revivification of the corpse, the resurrection can occur even if the body has been totally destroyed or dispersed. This helps us understand why, in many cinerary urns, the ashes of the deceased are conserved together and are not stored separately.”

Read the bold sections again. Forgive me, but they do not seem consistent with each other.

Lateran IV teaches, “He will come at the end of time to judge the living and the dead, to render to every person according to his works, both to the reprobate and to the elect. All of them will rise with their own bodies, which they now wear, so as to receive according to their deserts, whether these be good or bad; for the latter perpetual punishment with the devil, for the former eternal glory with Christ.”

St. Thomas is clearly opposed to Cardinal Fernandez. He even thinks it more probable that each particular piece of each particular part of each individual will be restored to the exact same place in the body, though he leaves it as allowed for pieces to move within the same part (i.e. a particle of bone in the upper arm moving to a lower part within the arm).

My dubium for His Eminence is: whether we may believe in reincarnation, as opposed to the traditional doctrine on the resurrection of the body?

Because it very much seems like that is what he is proposing.

I think that is a more important thing than prudence, scandal, and sacramentals – even though that is really important.

We need to pray and fast for the Cardinal.