I want to share with you an article published recently in the National Catholic Reporter.  While some will not agree with the overtly religious tone of the piece or the author's conclusions, I thought it worth sharing.  The author speaks about the importance of ritual in dealing with the death of a loved one.  The article is a reflection on a particular funeral service the author attended for a friend and colleague.  While the article provides a uniquely Catholic perspective on death and dying,

A company in the United Kingdom that manufactures caskets has decided to respond to the growing green trend and build a environmentally friendly casket.  Hainsworth, a 225 year old company located in Yorkshire England, has decided to expand its wool product line and manufacture woolen caskets.  The new casket line, known as Hainsworth's Natural Legacy caskets are sturdy and can hold up to 825 pounds.  Most importantly, they are environmentally friendly.  No dyes or toxic chemicals are used in the manufacturing of the caskets.  The company plans to launch the new pro

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed emergency legislation yesterday to create "funeral protection zones" that will allow grieving families the space and serenity to hold funeral services in dignity.  The legislation comes after the pastor of Westboro Baptist Church, Fred Phelps, vowed to protest the funeral services of the 9 year old girl killed on Saturday.  The Governor released the following statement:

The Westboro Baptist Church, known for protesting at military funerals, has announced that it plans to protest at the funeral of the 9 year old girl shot and killed in Tucson over the weekend.  The Church's announcement reads as follows: 

A recent article in the Sun Sentinel about bereavement fares caught my attention.  According to the article, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport is one of the busies airports in the entire world in terms of transporting the remains of decedents.  Last year alone, 2,600 decedents were flown out of Palm Beach County and another 1,900 were transported from Broward County.  Since Florida is a popular retirement spot for seniors it makes sense that Florida airports would handle a large portion of this travel.  The disturbing part of the article was the steep price

The Army has announced it will open a criminal investigation into the unknown remains held in 8 separate in a grave marked "unknown".  Arlington National Cemetery records showed that there were only one set of remains buried in the grave marked "Unknown".  The discrepancy has led to the criminal investigation.  Mismanagement and scandal have been revealed at one of the country's most revered burial grounds since July when it was first made public the record keeping problems and the possibility that up to 6,600 graves were mislabeled.

A new study published in the International Journal of Nursing Studies and picked up by Bloomberg News notes that those who've recently lost a loved one may develop cardiac issues such as abnormal heartbeats, heart attacks, and sudden cardiac death.  The study found that the first six months after the loss of a loved one poses the greatest cardiac risk.  After that period, the test results between the bereaved and those who've not experienced a loss show no significant difference.

The Associated Press published a story today about "green burials", a burial option that appears to be growing in popularity as the green movement itself becomes more widespread.  Green burials are considered environmentally friendly because they forego chemicals, vaults and even caskets. 

The movement is regulated and monitored by The Green Burial Council which notes that there are now 300 approved green burial providers in 40 states across the country.  As recently as 2008 there were only a dozen such burial providers. 

As the US Supreme Court heads back into session tomorrow, the docket is headlined by an emotionally-charged case involving protests at military funerals.  Snyder v.

Normally, the word doesn't grab news headlines.  However, this week caskets are in the news.  First, a US District Court Judge dropped an anti-trust lawsuit against Batesville casket company.  The suit was brought by the Funeral Consumers Alliance alleging that Batesville barred consumers from buying discount caskets from third party sellers.  The suit also alleged that Batesville had engaged in price fixing regarding their caskets.  Last Friday, US District Judge Kenneth Hoyt ruled FCA and other plaintiffs lacked standing and dismissed their lawsuit.