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Question

 

Dear Gramps,

What is the Church’s position of the disposition of our earthy remains: i.e. organ donation, cremation vs burial, etc.?

David

 

Answer

 

Dear David,

Here is the answer to a similar question with respect to cremation that was posed a short while ago:

Although the Church takes no official position on the manner of the disposition of the body after death, the Brethren counsel that consignment to the earth is proper and appropriate. The body, of course, is a sacred vessel, being formed in the very image of God, and as the tabernacle of the spirit, which is a child of God.

 

The following counsel is given in the Priesthood Bulletin, 1980–

 

“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints counsels its members to bury their dead in the earth to return dust to dust, unless the law of the country requires cremation. However, the decision whether to bury or cremate the body is left to the family of the deceased, taking into account any laws governing the matter.”

With respect to organ donation, my understanding is that the Mormon Church takes a similar position; this is a matter that is left strictly to the family of the deceased.

 

Gramps

 

 

 

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