In 2021, Wisconsin State Senator Patrick Testin, a Republican from Stevens Point, and Representative Todd Novak, a Republican from Dodgeville, sponsored legislation that would legalize alkaline hydrolysis as a means of disposing of human remains.
Alkaline what, you ask?
During alkaline hydrolysis, the body is placed in a pressure container filled with a mixture of water and chemicals, which is heated to a high temperature to break down all portions of the body except for the bones.
The resulting liquid from the process is typically disposed of through the wastewater system and the remaining bones can be pulverized.
The process is billed as environmentally friendly though it uses anywhere from 100-300 gallons of water per treatment, which must be cooled and chemically altered to reduce the slurry’s high pH levels before entering the wastewater system.
The Wisconsin Catholic Conference, the public policy voice of the Catholic Church in Wisconsin, testified in opposition to this bill, which passed the Senate on May 11, and is now being considered by the State Assembly.
The main reason the Catholic Church opposes alkaline hydrolysis is that it fails to give human remains the respect they deserve.
One does not have to be Catholic to understand that how we treat our dead is evidence of what we believe human beings to be.
Those who think that flushing most of a person’s body down the sewer is acceptable have a dulled sense of human dignity. Making alkaline hydrolysis a legal choice will contribute to dulling Wisconsin’s respect for the dead.
Environmental considerations
Many of the arguments in favor of allowing alkaline hydrolysis are environmental in their motivation.
The Catholic Church has always taught that we are to be good stewards of creation, including in our burial practices.
That is why our four diocesan cemeteries allow many elements of what is sometimes termed “green burial.” We will waive our vault requirement for those who choose to be buried without a casket.
Our diocesan cemeteries do not require embalming except for those to be entombed in our mausoleums.
Not all Catholic cemeteries have the same policies, so check with your cemetery to understand their regulations.
The Catholic Church has always preferred burial of human remains as a fitting imitation of the Lord Jesus and as a testimony to our faith in the resurrection of the body.
The manner of final disposition does not affect the soul of the deceased but does affect the souls of those who participate in that final disposition. So those who bury the dead are doing a good work.
Those who persecuted the early Christians harmed their own souls when they desecrated the bodies of Christians. They had no power to prevent the resurrection of the Christian’s body.
Alkaline hydrolysis and cremation
Proponents of alkaline hydrolysis — mostly funeral and cremation associations and the relevant equipment manufacturers — point out that the end product is approximately the same as what you have with cremation: Bones that are then pulverized. And the Church permits cremation.
We need to keep two things in mind. First, the Church’s permission of cremation is a grudging permission.
This is the way the Church discusses the issue: Cremation “does not enjoy the same value as burial of the body,” (Order of Christian Funerals); “the Church insistently recommends that the bodies of the deceased be buried” (To Rise with Christ, CDF, 2016); “a Christian funeral must be denied to” those requesting that their cremated remains be scattered (ibid.).
Clearly, in the mind of the Church, cremation is a distant second to burial. The argument that “the end product is the same” overlooks the way the Church’s permission is presented.
Second, we must consider whether the end justifies the means.
Another way of ending up with just bones would be to dump a body in a pit of flesh-eating beetles, a method used by taxidermists.
That’s fine for cleaning a deer skull but does not express the respect we owe to human remains. The means to the end matter.
Throughout history and across cultures, there have been two main ways of respectfully treating human remains: Burial and cremation.
Throughout history and across cultures, there has been very little adoption of boiling human remains in a pot until the flesh separates from the bone.
Alkaline hydrolysis is not very different from boiling in a pot, except the dissolved human remains are then added to the municipal sewer system.
For Catholic death care professionals
For the last few years, alkaline hydrolysis has been proposed in the Wisconsin legislature. Each year it meets a slightly warmer reception.
So it is foreseeable, though not inevitable, that it will eventually become legal in Wisconsin, as it has in at least 19 other states.
What does that mean for Catholics?
First, Catholics in the “death care industry” should refrain from participating in or promoting alkaline hydrolysis.
This might become a real sacrifice with consequences for the bottom line, as alkaline hydrolysis is often touted as a “best practice” and a “consumer choice.”
Our faith and the ambient culture part ways on many issues, and there are simply practices that Catholics cannot in good conscience support. That is one reason that we seek to influence civil legislation to align with our principles.
For lay Catholics
Catholics making their final arrangements are already faced with an array of options that are contrary to the faith.
These will often be presented as just another choice on the menu, but the faithful Catholic will reject options like scattering and jewelry-making for cremated remains.
In some cases, choosing burial — the Church’s preference — will be more expensive. But the Catholic should not be primarily motivated by cost.
We mark important events knowing that there is often a cost involved. Consider weddings. It is possible to over-spend on a wedding, but it is not an everyday occurrence in the life of two people, so it is fitting that it be celebrated in a special way that might incur additional expense.
The vigil, funeral, and committal are the way Catholics take their leave of their beloved dead, and it is also worth marking in a special way.
Contact state legislators
Please contact your Wisconsin State legislators to voice your opposition to alkaline hydrolysis.
Assembly Bill 207 can be found at docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2021/proposals/ab207
Use the “Find Your Legislator” tool at legis.wisconsin.gov to get contact information for your state representative.
Damian Lenshek is Director of Cemeteries for the Diocese of Madison and can be reached at [email protected]