For the first time, the Archdiocese of Chicago is introducing natural burials, becoming the only Catholic diocese in Illinois to offer them.
After roughly 18 months of planning, the archdiocese is opening the Meadows of St. Kateri at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Cemetery in Palatine .The site will offer about 650 plots for full-body burials and the burial of cremated remains, with some already reserved.Natural burials avoid traditional caskets and harsh embalming fluids. In the Meadows of St. Kateri, individuals will still be buried in caskets, but these will be made of biodegradable materials such as wicker or bamboo.
So obviously, it's always important for us to meet the needs of the community and so we felt it was time to go ahead and start this," said Ted Ratajczyk, executive director of Catholic Cemeteries. "We've laid out currently about an acre and a half that we're going to open slowly. So phase one is opening about a third of that and making it available to the families. And then, we will continue to move on as we need more space.
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