The Maridi Diocesan Council of the Episcopal Church has resolved to regulate burials at the church cemetery, including charging fees for use of the church graveyard, a move that prompted some in the community to accuse the church of doing business.
Moses Zungo, ECS Diocesan Secretary, explained that the move came after a resolution of the council of cathedral meeting to keep the cemetery clean and in an organized way.
He says according to the resolution, anyone who wants to bury a relative should visit the church to register the details of the deceased and pay some amount to maintain the cemetery.
He says some people did not want to clean the cemetery, after burying a relative they used to go away for good, leaving the cemetery overgrown.
“The church council started to put in place a system that if a loved one dies then the relative should come to the pastor at the church here at All Saints Cathedral. There is a notebook here where he will have to give information: where your relative was born, how he died, it will be put in the church record,” said Moses Zungo.
He added that burial fees will also be required:“If you put someone in the graveyard for rest then you should contribute something small in order to maintain the graveyard.”
Zungo says the resolution brought mixed reactions from the community where some community members said that the church is doing business, but he insisted that the church is not doing business, it is just a small contribution to maintain the cemetery.