Catholics have been banned from scattering ashes, dividing them among relatives or keeping the remains at home, the Vatican has ruled.
New guidelines issued by the Catholic Church state the remains of loved ones must be stored in a “church approved” place.
The instructions were released in time for Halloween and "All Souls Day" on November 2 when followers are supposed to pray for and remember the dead.
The document, from the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, said burial was preferred over cremation which was branded a "brutal destruction" of the body.
However, increasing numbers of Catholics are said to be opting for cremations for economic and ecological reasons.
The Vatican said ashes and bone fragments cannot be kept at homeas it would deprive the Christian community of remembering the dead.
It said church authorities should instead designate a sacred place, such as a cemetery or church area, to hold them.
Family members cannot place remains in lockets or other mementos and they cannot be scattered in the air, land or sea since doing so would give the appearance of "pantheism, naturalism or nihilism," the guidelines said.
The new instruction carries an August 15 date and says Pope Francis approved it on March 18.
The author of the text, Cardinal Gerhard Mueller, was asked at a Vatican briefing if Francis had any reservations about the text, particularly the refusal to let family members keep remains of their loved ones at home.
"The dead body isn't the private property of relatives, but rather a son of God who is part of the people of God," Mueller said. "We have to get over this individualistic thinking."
Additional reporting by Associated Press
