* David Bonagura Jr., author of the book “Steadfast in Faith”, was invited to appear on WTTW’s news program to talk about Rep. Kelly Cassidy’s bill to allow people to have their dead bodies composted under state regulations…

Bonagura: Cremation is allowed, but not preferred in the Catholic tradition precisely because of the value we place on the body as a religious tradition. We think the body has been ennobled in such a great way through the incarnation that Jesus Christ became God and gave the body an incredible dignity, He divinised it. So even in cremation, we allow that, the church requires that the ashes and bones be kept together and not separated. To separate is really to denigrate the nature of the person.

One of the great tragic elements of September 11 was that so many of those bodies were not able to be recovered, and those people were lost into oblivion, just like people who are composted are. There’s no way to bring closure or peace.

Rep. Cassidy: I’m sorry. You’re comparing this to a terrorist attack? Please.

Bonagura: It’s what happened to the bodies of those poor people.

Rep. Cassidy: And let’s stay with the facts, man. C’mon.

Bonagura: Those were bodies that were lost to all eternity, just like…

Rep. Cassidy: And that has nothing to do with a person making a conscious choice to use a low-impact process to dispose of their remains in a way that is consistent with their belief system. I respect your belief system. I’m not asking Catholics to be cremated, or to be composted. I have no business telling a Catholic what to do with their body post-death. Just as the Catholic Church doesn’t have any business telling an environmentalist that they have to use an environmentally damaging process to handle their remains.

Bonagura: We make laws that reflect the values of our culture. And to allow human composting, to allow our bodies to be thrown into oblivion…

Rep. Cassidy: This is not a Catholic country. [Crosstalk]

Bonagura: If we can defend the body in death, we can do it in life as well.

Please pardon all transcription errors. More on the panel discussion (and there was quite a bit more) is here.