The government last week launched the much-awaited public consultation on cremation, which will finally see the regularization of cremation in Malta.

The move may be seen by some as another step toward liberalism by the progressive Labour government, but the reality is that cremation is something that is truly in demand in modern-day Malta.

The demand for cremation has been on the increase for a number of reasons, which include the growing number of non-Catholic foreigners in Malta, and the growing secularism and breakaway from Church teaching.

There are, of course, cultural and religious reasons as well behind the growing demand.

Labour MP Rosianne Cutajar, who is spearheading the Bill, said that recent research shows that 30 per cent of the population prefers to be cremated rather than buried.

There have so far been four planning applications for the setting up of a crematorium however none of this materialised due to the lack of legal framework.

It is indeed strange that Malta introduced pet cremation services before human cremation, although the reasoning there is that there is no official space where to bury beloved pets when they die.

Currently, people wanting this service have to send their loved ones abroad to be cremated – a process that is both expensive and complicated.

The only two options that are currently available in Malta are burial in a cemetery or burial at sea.

The first is, of course, the far more common option. But there are a number of issues connected with burial in a cemetery. First of all not all families own a grave. Graves at Malta’s cemeteries, especially at Addolorata, are in short supply and acquiring a new plot in the new cemetery extension does not come cheap. 

Then there are many individuals whose family might own a grave, or who might well afford to buy one of their own but who do not wish to be buried on consecrated ground. Malta must accept its present-day reality where not everyone identifies as Catholic, and these people have a right for a burial place too.

In the ongoing debate, a distinction must be made between a religious and a secular burial or cremation. Contrary to belief, the Roman Catholic Church does actually allow cremation, but only as long as the remains are held on consecrated ground, such as a cemetery. It also forbids the scattering of ashes on land or sea.

Keeping the ashes of the deceased person in an urn at home is a big no no for the church, and you will not be allowed to have a Church funeral if that is your plan.

Speaking at the launch of the public consultation last week, MP Cutajar said that the government is respecting the public’s wishes on what should happen to their bodies after their death.

If this is the case, then the law must cater for all scenarios. While those who follow Church teaching should stick to the Vatican’s rules and inter the ashes of their loved ones at the cemetery or any other sacred place, those with a more secular frame of mind should be allowed to keep the ashes at their home or any other place they choose.

In this respect, if we are to have just one crematorium, it might not make much sense for it to be part of the Addolorata cemetery.