Vatican bans Catholics from keeping or scattering the ashes of loved ones

Ashes must now be kept in a 'sacred places' such as a cemetery

Cardinal Gerhard Müller reiterated that burial of the dead was preferable to cremation. (EPA)

Ashes of cremated Catholics can no longer be kept at home, scattered, or divided among family members, the Vatican has ruled.

The new instruction, handed down from the top of the Catholic Church, said ashes must instead be kept in “sacred places” such as cemeteries.

It also stressed that it preferred burial to cremation, saying it was the most “fitting way to express faith”.

The Vatican has permitted cremation since 1963 but has always frowned on the practice.

“It is not permitted to scatter the ashes of the faithful departed in the air, on land, at sea or in some other way, nor may they be preserved in mementos, pieces of jewellery or other objects,” the instruction said.

The ruling came from the Congregation for the Doctrine Of The Faith (CDF), a Vatican department, which warned practices "contrary to the Church’s faith" that had become "widespread".

Speaking at a Vatican news conference, German Cardinal Gerhard Müller, Prefect of the department said that in recent decades there had been a huge increase in the practise of cremation rather than burial, and in the “domestic” conservation of the ashes of the deceased.

“We come from the earth and we shall return to the earth,” Cardinal Müller said, re-affirming the church’s preference for burials.

“The church continues to incessantly recommend that the bodies of the dead be buried either in cemeteries or in other sacred ground.

“In memory of the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord, burial is the most appropriate way to express our faith and hope in bodily resurrection,” he said. Yet Cardinal Müller said cremation would not be banned.

Pope Francis had already approved the guidelines, the Vatican said.