Catholic Cemeteries of the Archdiocese of Chicago is now offering a natural burial option at the Meadows of St. Kateri, a new section at St. Michael the Archangel Cemetery in Palatine. Cemetery officials celebrated the development during an outdoor Mass and blessing of the burial site on Sept. 8.  

The Archdiocese of Chicago is the first Catholic diocese in Illinois to offer natural burial, said Ted Ratajczyk, executive director of Catholic Cemeteries of the Archdiocese of Chicago.

Catholic Cemeteries has dedicated an acre of land for the natural burials, which provides space for quiet reflection and connection with nature for families to visit and remember their loved ones. There is a pavilion where burial prayer services will take place, walking trails with native plants and a mixture of meadow and forest terrain.

The Meadows of St. Kateri is named for St. Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Native American to be recognized as a saint by the Catholic Church. She is the patroness of the environment, ecology and Indigenous peoples. Tekakwitha is often referred to as the “Lily of the Mohawks” in recognition of her kindness, prayer, faith and heroic suffering. She was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI at St. Peter’s Basilica on Oct. 21, 2012.

Natural burials, also known as “green” burials, emphasize simplicity and environmental responsibility by allowing bodies to return to the earth naturally.

According to National Funeral Directors Association 2023 Consumer Awareness and Preferences Report, 60% of people said they would be interested in exploring “green” funeral options because of their potential environmental benefits and cost savings, up from 55.7% in 2021.

“Over the last 12 or 15 years, we’ve been getting more and more requests every year from families about natural burial,” Ratajczyk said.

People ask if there is a place where they don’t have to bury a concrete box and a metal casket along with not having to embalm the deceased’s body, he added.

Catholic Cemeteries requires a wooden box for burials of full bodies. The site also has space for cremated remains; urns must be biodegradable. 

The cemetery has already conducted one natural burial and has sold several packages to people who want the option, Ratajczyk said. 

To develop the Meadows of St. Kateri, Catholic Cemeteries’ staff worked with cemeteries in dioceses around the country that have natural burial sites and consulted “green” burial councils. 

“I think we created a beautiful meadow area where families will be able to come in, have a prayer service under a shelter that we put up there, and if it’s a casket have it wheeled out to the grave site to complete the burial,” Ratajczyk said.

The practice aligns with Catholic teachings on the sanctity of life and respect for the environment and honors the Catholic faith in the Resurrection — the cycle of death and rebirth.

“This is the way burials took place for thousands of years, in terms of natural burial,” said Father Lawrence Sullivan, priest director of Catholic Cemeteries of the Archdiocese of Chicago. “There is nothing here that would be contrary to church teaching. It’s not something people are obligated to do either.”

Being buried in a Catholic cemetery is a right of every Catholic, Sullivan said.

“We know that cemeteries have always been important in the life of the church,” he said. “In the days of the early church they celebrated the Mass in one of two places — the homes of the faithful and at the graves of the martyrs. That’s why St. Peter’s Basilica is built on top of the grave of St. Peter.”

Natural burials also align with Pope Francis’ concern for the environment and his encyclical “Laudato Si,’” Sullivan said.

“We really are taking the Holy Father’s call of ‘Laudato Si’’ to take care of the earth very seriously,” Sullivan said. “We want to make sure that we are being responsible to the earth that’s been given to us, so not filling the ground with the concrete and the chemicals involved in embalming is good, but we don’t want to be criticizing the other ministries that we are doing. It’s important to have our crypts and burial spots.”

To learn more about natural burials, visit catholiccemeterieschicago.org.