The free thinkers, the Catholic Church and cremation

Among the earliest advocates of cremation, there were free thinkers activists like Dr Bourneville, and the various structures of the free thought movement showed great interest for this new mode of burial. Like the other crematists, free thinkers spoke in the name of hygiene, but they accused the Church of favouring dirt and rot. They hoped that the triumph of cremation would strike a blow to the Church, as burials used to constitute an important part of the priests' liturgic activity. Although cremation did nor contradict any dogma, not even the resurrection of bodies, Rome considered cremation as a sign of irreligion and condemned it in 1886 and 1892: thus cremation might only be chosen by Jews, Protestants and free thinkers. Nevertheless not every French free thinker became a crematist. Many showed reluctance towards incineration and remained faithful to lay funerals.