A funeral in the Catholic Church

Sweden was Catholic until the 16th century, and after that Catholicism was banned for 300 years. Today there are around 200 000 Catholics in the country.

What usually happens at the ceremony?

The funeral is conducted by a priest or a deacon. It is held either as a service of the word, or in a more solemn form with a mass.

The coffin is sprinkled with holy water, which recalls baptism, and incense is offered over it. At the graveside it is the custom for those present to throw a handful of earth onto the coffin or sprinkle it with holy water.

What is useful to know?

• Cremation is permitted, but burial in the ground is recommended.
• Incense is common in the ceremony.
• Funerals are usually well attended.
• In other respects Swedish funeral customs are followed.

What do we help with?

We handle the contact with the parish and make sure the venue, the timing and the transport fit together.

The content of the ceremony belongs to the family and the congregation. We make sure that everything around it is in place in time: collection and transport, day or night, coffin and urn, contact with the cemetery authority, the death notice and the online memorial, and all the paperwork for the authorities.

What does it cost?

The same price list applies whatever the tradition. See what a funeral costs, or call us and we will work out the figures for your situation.

Where can we read more?

Sveriges Begravningsbyråers Förbund, the Swedish Funeral Directors Association, describes the tradition at begravningar.se.

We arrange funerals according to several different traditions.