Catholic Cemeteries Protest Regulation, Delay Bill to Protect Cemetery Consumers

Friday, 14 May 2010 18:21

4/14/2010— An alarmist letter from the Catholic Cemeteries Conference (CCC, a lobbying association) delayed the mark-up of HR3655, the Bereaved Consumers Bill of Rights Act of 2009. Sponsor Bobby Rush pulled the bill from markup in the House Energy and Commerce Committee May 5 after the CCC sent a letter to lawmakers full of exaggerated and just plain false claims. HR3655 would extend the Federal Trade Commission's Funeral Rule to cemeteries, crematories, and third-party merchandise sellers. Consumers would have the right to printed, itemized price lists, freedom of choice in purchase, and accurate information. The bill will likely be resubmitted to the Committee after Rep. Rush has time to consider the situation.

In a bid to persuade lawmakers to exempt religious cemeteries from minimal requirements for transparency, the CCC claimed the bill would interfere with the religious freedoms of Catholic cemeteries through the "federalization of local religious operations," and by allowing the government to "polic[e] what religious organizations say to their members.” Objecting to the idea that Catholics who buy burials at church cemeteries are "consumers"—and ignoring the fact that parishioners usually pay thousands of dollars for the privilege—the Conference claimed Catholic cemeteries were a "ministry," and therefore off-limits to regulators.

Crying government interference with religious practice is fightin' words in the United States. Real instances of government meddling in religious practices should alarm anyone, but the CCC is crying wolf. Nothing in HR3655 would interfere in any way with the religious burial rites or practices of any faith tradition. It would merely:

Require all cemeteries to give grieving families printed price lists before they buy
Require all cemeteries to give families copies of cemetery rules and regulations on permissible monuments, maintenance, etc.
Give all cemetery consumers the right to buy only the merchandise they desire, and allow them to buy cemetery goods from third party vendors
Prohibit cemeteries from lying about legal requirements (claiming, for example, that grave vaults are required by law)

How would this interfere with any religious ritual? What religion holds an an article of faith that members who pay for church-run cemetery services should be denied price and rule information? None, of course, and we can't imagine why any religiously operated cemetery would object to rules that require ethical, honest, transparent treatment of vulnerable consumers during a difficult and costly transaction.

Funeral Consumers Alliance pushed back with a letter correcting the misinformation and fear-mongering. We noted:

The bill imposes next-to-no costs, just the price of a few sheets of paper and the time it takes to alert staff of consumer rights
The nation's 21,000 funeral homes have been subject to these same rules for 26 years and no harm has come to the mortuary business
Families who choose burial in religious cemeteries deserve the same basic consumer protections as all other families

Last Updated ( Thursday, 29 July 2010 00:36 )

Comments (2)

As a person of faith, I am voicing my support for HR 3655, the Bereaved Consumers Bill of Rights Act of 2009. Having evaluated funeral homes and crematories for compliance with the Funeral Rule as a funeral consumer advocate, I see nothing in the Rule that would impede the ministerial aims of a religious cemetery. The aim of the Funeral Rule, which HR 3655 would extend to cemeteries, is to make the pricing of funeral goods and services transparent, to prevent false and misleading assertions, and to support the consumer's right to choose only those goods and services he or she wants. What's threatening to any religious organization about those aims? I would think in fact that compassionate religious organizations would be especially sympathetic to the need of families who are vulnerable at the time of a loved one's death.

HR 3655 should be implemented for a number of obvious reasons. I am a Catholic who has been witness to some of the less than candid practices involving grieving families at the death of a loved one. These would include, but are not limited to grossly excessive costs ($30,000 to be paid within 30 days) and the unfulfilled promise of "perpetual care" for gravesites. The opportunity for fraud or misrepresentation is obviously too much to bear for a number of individuals involved in the process - at the expense (literally) of the survivors...
In a word, "practice the compassion that you preach" - is an appropriate admonition I humbly offer to the "vendors/ clergy" who would oppose this Bill. Someday you and yours shall make that passage to a better place, and hopefully, no such fee will be exacted of you.