MEXICO CITY (CNS) – The tradition of praying for the dead in graveyards is gradually being threatened in Mexico City, because cemetery space is becoming scarce and the local government is promoting cremation as an alternative. The effort does not sit well with some, including Catholics, who prefer burials.

An inability to bury the dead causes some conflict for Catholics, especially because the Church previously prohibited cremation. Church leaders in Mexico City have come around the idea of cremation, though, mainly for pragmatic reasons – including the shortage of spaces in cemeteries and the problem of poor people being able to pay for burial plots in far-flung parts of the city.