Can Catholics be cremated? I was taught that cremation is a pagan ritual and therefore forbidden.

Early Christians opposed cremation because pagans often cremated their dead as a sign of disdain for the Christian’s belief in the physical resurrection of the body. To protect belief in this doctrine of faith, the Church forbade cremation. That prohibition was lifted in 1963.

The Church still recommends that the faithful be buried, but Catholics may be cremated so long as cremation does not demonstrate a denial of belief in the resurrection of the body (CCC 2301).