I asked Anselm Nye about the Mile End Synagogue which was where the library
of Queen Mary and Westfield Collge is now. This of course is later than your
date. But apparantly there was a stir about the digging up of Jewish bones
to build the college. It is interesting that Christians lack this taboo
concerning dead bodies that Judaism retains. Why sepulchres were whitewashed
at Passover so they would not be polluting. In Italy we have to dig up our
dead after ten years, clean their bones with toothbrushes, an act of piety
on the part of the family, and put them in ossaries, but this is because of
Napoleon, for the sake of hygiene and land availability, and presumably
holds in the other countries over which Napoleon held sway; of course,
excluding England.
At 10.40 23/12/97 -0500, you wrote:
>In North America, there is an increasing sensitivity towards digging up
>and handling Native American bones and religious artifacts. This is in
>part due to an increased sensitivity towards the oppression of American
>Indians and the destruction of their culture. Are there any qualms in
>Europe about digging up graves, tampering with grave goods, or opening up
>church crypts? Such practices were part of the cult of saints, but do
>more recent diggers have respect for the mortal remains of past bishops?
>I wouldn't want someone to dig up my granny, or to lift her rings or
>anything else from the grave, only to stuff them into a museum's drawer.
>
>M. Cels
>Toronto
>
>
>
>
____
Julia Bolton Holloway, [log in to unmask]
Hermit of the Holy Family
via del Partigiano 16, Montebeni, 50014 FIESOLE, ITALY
http://members.aol.com/juliansite/Juliansite.htm
O Sapientia, O Adonai, O Radix Jesse, O Oriens, O Rex Gentium, O Emmanuel, O
Virgo Virginum
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