In 1963, the Catholic Church lifted its prohibition forbidding Catholics to choose cremation. Canon 1176 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law states, "The Church earnestly recommends the pious custom of burying the bodies of the dead be observed, it does not however, forbid cremation unless it has been chosen for reasons which are contrary to Christian teaching." There is a lot of more information on this topic, if interested in further reading: http://www.cathcemchgo.org/cremation.htm

When I was a child in parochial school, the nuns often told us that cremation was prohibited because our bodies were "temples of the Holy Spirit" and so it would be unseemly/sinful to burn them. I remember thinking more than once that letting those temples rot in the ground didn't seem any more respectful, but I ever had the courage to challenge the nuns. I have arranged to donate my body to the medical school of a Catholic university (after I die, of course). When the school is through with donated bodies, they are cremated and the ashes placed in a common grave, thus doing the undertakers out of their share of the action.

Yes, as of 1997 Catholics may be cremated so long as the reasons behind the decision are not against Catholic beliefs in any way. (See http://catholicism.about.com/od/deathdyingafterlife/f/crematedf04.htm) Also, the following page from the Catholic Encyclopedia offers a good history on the practice and reasons behind the Catholic Church's long opposition to cremation: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04481c.htm

The early catholic church, forbid cremation. The reasons for this were that human body was seen as temple for Holy Spirit and the resurrection belief. Early day church believed that cremation violated the doctrine of resurrection and observed the act of cremation as a pagan activity. So early day church preferred either entombing of the body or burial of the body. In 1963, the Vatican lifted the ban on cremation for Catholics. Cremation was allowed if there was no violation in the ritual according to christan laws. Cremation was to be conducted only after the conclusion of other Prayer and rituals that are part of Catholic funeral services. That is the full body should be present at funeral prayers and services and the cremation should be done only after the completion of funeral services. To quote the 1983 Code of Canon Law “The Church earnestly recommends the pious custom of burying the bodies of the dead be observed, it does not however, forbid cremation unless it has been chosen for reasons which are contrary to Christian teaching" (Canon 1176) On March 21, 1997 in another holy decree, The Vatican granted permission for the cremated remains of a body to be brought into church for the liturgical rites of burial. Church requires that cremated remains of a body be buried or entombed immediately after the Funeral. Cremated remains are not to be scattered, kept at home or divided into other vessels among family members. The Church allows for burial at sea, providing that the cremated remains of the body are buried in a heavy container and not scattered.

I do not think that religions really 'believe' in cremation as it is merely a type of funeral arrangement.

im catholic and i dont think its a big deal.lol

I think how we bury our loved ones transcends religion. I strongly object to cremation because it is at violent odds with love itself; the very language of love protests against it: cherish, honor, preserve, even to dote, to minister to, to hold...as dear to us the physical shape and weight of those we love who have passed away...their intact skeletons can endure for hundreds of years...as Christians we have only to look to our Lord "This is my body," and, for Catholics, our Lady who was assumed body and soul to heaven...the story of Lazarus (four days dead in the tomb)...for illustrations of the sanctity of human life, body, mind and spirit. As Christians, bodily burial sustains and maintains Judeo-Christian tradition and is the penultimate gesture of our faith and hope in the Resurrection. Cremation, on the other hand, is, in most cases, the cold, expedient, economical pulverization of that cherished physical aspect of our loved ones. The Catholic Church, in the new code of Canon Law (1983) still states that, while they do not forbid cremation, "the Church earnestly recommends that the pious custom of burying the dead be observed." Just 20% of Americans today choose cremation over burial of the intact remains of their loved ones. Hopefully, it will continue to be the exception and not the rule.