Multi-religious reburial mulled for bodies

ALSIP, Ill., July 19 (UPI) -- A multi-denominational religious ritual may be needed if unidentified bodies unearthed at a Chicago-area cemetery are reburied in a common grave, experts say.

The human remains -- allegedly dug up and carelessly cast away for profit by the proprietors of Burr Oak Cemetery -- may never be identified, and Cook County, Ill., officials have suggested they may have to be reburied in a common grave. If so, a burial rite would have to include elements of African-American Protestant, Roman Catholic, Muslim and Jewish traditions, the Chicago Tribune reported Sunday.

"There is a fundamental basic desire that the dead are properly disposed of and that you're able to put them in a place that's sanctified, preserved and meaningful," Gary Laderman, a professor of religion at Emory University in Atlanta, told the newspaper. "When you're not allowed to do that, it's wrenching."

"In African-American tradition it's extremely important to recognize the dead and be named in this way," added Suzanne Smith, a professor at George Mason University.

The newspaper said the Jewish kaddish, a Muslim funerary prayer and a recitation of the names of the deceased in the African-American tradition could all be part of a reburial ceremony.