ABSTRACT
Rites from more Catholic traditions have paid careful attention to the deceased and to prayers for the dead. The more Protestant churches have generally avoided this emphasis and looked more to the solace of those who mourn. This is fairly predictable and arises from theological convictions. What has proved more challenging for the liturgist has been to express van Gennep's theory of rites of passage with its phases of separation, transition and incorporation. The work of scholars in uncovering Christian funerary traditions has informed the work of liturgists. One of the clearest things to have emerged is the contemporary desire to provide services to meet as wide a range of pastoral circumstances as possible. A recent rash of discoveries in Britain that some hospitals have retained organs and other body parts without the knowledge of bereaved families is leading some to ask for second rites of burial or cremation.
