Funeral visitation is no longer allowed in church building or facilities effective December 1
NEWS RELEASE
October 28, 2025
Contact: Dennis Biviano, PR & Media Specialist, (330) 744-8451, ext. 320; dbiviano@youngstowndiocese.org
YOUNGSTOWN, OH – Today more families are requesting to hold funeral visitation for loved ones in church. This increasing trend can be attributed to several factors, including convenience, cutting cost and making it easier for family and friends to attend all parts of the funeral rites.
Over the past year, the Most Reverend David J. Bonnar, Bishop of Youngstown, has met with funeral directors, the Diocesan Presbyteral Council and County Deans, in hopes of establishing a uniform policy for funeral visitations. Ultimately, with their unanimous support, it has been decided that funeral visitation will no longer be allowed in a church building or church facilities effective December 1, 2025.
The structure of the “Order of Christian Funerals” serves as a guide in the discernment of this matter. The order states that “we celebrate the funeral rites to offer worship, praise and thanksgiving to God for the gift of a life which has now been returned to God, the author of life and the hope of the just.” The first part of a funeral liturgy is the Vigil, or prayers to be prayed during the visitation, which is followed by the Transfer of the Body to the Church and then a committal at the Cemetery.
Bishop Bonnar says, “That there should be a transfer to the church is a clear sign that the ritual does not envision a viewing in the Church building. The Church building is where the community gathers to hear the Word of God, to pray together, receive the sacraments and to celebrate the Eucharist. The Church building is both the house of God on earth and a house fit for prayer. Churches are sacred buildings intended for divine worship and not to serve as spaces for funeral visitations.”
And while he knows the decision will cause some distress for some, Bishop Bonnar says, it’s his responsibility “as the Diocesan Bishop to avoid any semblance of disconnect between a trend and the parameters established by the Order of Christian Funerals.”
You can read a message from Bishop Bonnar here as well as the full decree.
