“By burying the bodies of the faithful, the Church confirms her faith in the resurrection of the body, and intends to show the great dignity of the human body as an integral part of the human person whose body forms part of their identity… She cannot, therefore, condone attitudes or permit rites that involve erroneous ideas about death, such as considering death as the definitive annihilation of the person, or the moment of fusion with Mother Nature or the universe, or as a stage in the cycle of regeneration, or as the definitive liberation from the ‘prison’ of the body.”

~ Ad Resurgendum cum Christo

The above quote is from a Vatican document addressing the resurrection of the dead and appropriate burial rites. Burial of the body is the ordinary way of showing respect for the dead. Other actions signify different (non-Christian) beliefs regarding human nature: Death as the annihilation of the person signifies a materialist belief of the human person, while death as a freeing of the soul from a body which is external and meaningless signifies a belief in dualism. Neither materialism nor dualism are Christian views of the human person.

The human being is a body-soul composite, the spiritual soul being the form and life principle of the body. The body is the physical manifestation of the soul, both being necessary in making up the human person. Therefore, the body isn’t equivalent to a thing, even after death. The disembodied soul is immediately judged by God after death and is sent to either heaven or hell (or purgatory for those heaven-bound in need of purification). Yet, the soul remains an incomplete human being, anticipating reunification with its body. On the last day of history, when Christ comes back again, the dead will be raised, i.e. bodies will be reunited with their souls and those in heaven will become glorified (as was Jesus’ body after the His resurrection).

Therefore, it is reasonable for the Church to have proclaimed throughout the centuries that the most fitting way to respect the dead awaiting resurrection is prayerful burial of his or her body.