Columbarium dedicated at Holy Hope Cemetery

Statues of Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Juan Diego grace the new columbarium at Holy Hope Cemetery.

On the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas blessed and dedicated a new columbarium last month at Holy Hope Cemetery in Tucson.
The timing was chosen because a statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe graces the top of the columbarium, while a companion statue of the kneeling St. Juan Diego is at the base. The columbarium will be a repository for cremated remains.
“More and more families are choosing cremation when a loved one has died,” said the Bishop. “While the Church accepts cremation, the proper respect and care for cremated remains are expected.”
Many Catholic cemeteries have created columbaria to hold cremated remains to assure safe and respectful care in perpetuity.
“The Church discourages placing cremated remains in the house, the distribution of remains among family members and the scattering of remains in nature,” Bishop Kicanas said. “Such treatments do not assure the proper dignity due the cremated remains.”
Bishop Kicanas said he was grateful to Jim De Castro, director of the diocese’s Catholic cemeteries, and the Cemeteries Board of Director “for the thoughtful planning in providing this new columbarium.”
The Bishop also said he was grateful to the family of Lupita Lujan Garcia for the donation of the statues.