History in the cemetery...
No trip to Spoleto is complete without a stroll through the cemetery. I always look at it as a history lesson. There is much you can learn from the people who came before you. One that I find incredibly interesting is Luigi Pianciani (Rome 1810- Spoleto 1890), a man of many accomplishments from war hero to mayor of Rome.
Interestingly regarding the cemetery, is that Luigi Pianciani was a Freemason and a huge proponent of cremation, a practice the Catholic church strictly forbade until 1963. His 'temple of cremation' is here along with many of its society members and the 19th century mobile furnace. In the 1860s, Masons were encouraging all lodges to 'energetically engage in this major issues, as nobody could avoid its extraordinary importance...a new step towards the route of civil progress'.
Even Giuseppe Garibaldi, formerly Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Italy, and one of this country's greatest heroes, had a dying wish to be cremated. Not surprising, his request was not honored by his family thus angering the League of the Italian Societies of Cremation and of Freemasonry. The Leagues protests encountered fierce clerical defenses which culminated in excommunication of all those who belonged to cremation societies. The big clerical question asked was, "Is it lawful to subscribe to societies whose objective is to promote the scorching of men's corpses?"
This debate got so bad that in 1896 the church published Rivista Antimassonica, a magazine with articles titled Famous and Nauseating Human Barbecue.
I found all of this to be exceptionally interesting. Even now, the Catholic Church frowns upon what Pianiciani and others believed was civil, hygienic and progress. "The Church earnestly recommends that the pious custom of burial be retained; but it does not forbid cremation, unless this is chosen for reasons which are contrary to Christian teaching."
Interestingly regarding the cemetery, is that Luigi Pianciani was a Freemason and a huge proponent of cremation, a practice the Catholic church strictly forbade until 1963. His 'temple of cremation' is here along with many of its society members and the 19th century mobile furnace. In the 1860s, Masons were encouraging all lodges to 'energetically engage in this major issues, as nobody could avoid its extraordinary importance...a new step towards the route of civil progress'.
Even Giuseppe Garibaldi, formerly Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Italy, and one of this country's greatest heroes, had a dying wish to be cremated. Not surprising, his request was not honored by his family thus angering the League of the Italian Societies of Cremation and of Freemasonry. The Leagues protests encountered fierce clerical defenses which culminated in excommunication of all those who belonged to cremation societies. The big clerical question asked was, "Is it lawful to subscribe to societies whose objective is to promote the scorching of men's corpses?"
This debate got so bad that in 1896 the church published Rivista Antimassonica, a magazine with articles titled Famous and Nauseating Human Barbecue.
I found all of this to be exceptionally interesting. Even now, the Catholic Church frowns upon what Pianiciani and others believed was civil, hygienic and progress. "The Church earnestly recommends that the pious custom of burial be retained; but it does not forbid cremation, unless this is chosen for reasons which are contrary to Christian teaching."
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Way too much info for my blog. But thanks for sharing, and for taking us!
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