Hope that work on Devonport columbarium can start soon

A columbarium is a place where the ashes of those who have been cremated can be placed in perpetuity. The proposed project is at St Francis de Sales and All Souls Catholic Church in Devonport.

Plans for a permanent columbarium at Devonport – a sacred, prayerful, beautiful space where the remains of loved ones can be safely stored – were devised several years ago following a gift from a generous donor. That gift has paid for all preliminary planning and design, the parish website explained.

“We are now ready to commence building this year on the western side of the church.”

The parish already has a graveyard on church land, and a crypt built into the back wall of the church, where a small number of ashes are contained.

Some 15 niches in the columbarium have already been purchased. The parish is aiming to meet a pre-sales target so that building can start in the first half of this year.

More and more Catholics are choosing to be cremated, the parish website stated.

The instruction Ad resurgendum cum Christo from the then-Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 2016 stated “the ashes of the faithful must be laid to rest in a sacred place, that is, in a cemetery or, in certain cases, in a church or an area which has been set aside for this purpose”.

The Studio of John the Baptist recently produced an artist’s impression for the proposed Devonport columbarium project. The studio also produced an image of a proposed Holy Spirit mosaic facing the columbarium from a church window.

FULL STORY

Columbarium – St. Francis de Sales and All Souls Church (Devonport Catholic Parish)

Original Artworks Newsletter – March 2025 (Studio of John the Baptist)

CDF instruction on burials and conservation of ashes (CDF)