Q: At the conclusion of the funeral liturgy, there is the rite of final commendation and farewell. Some ministers are still talking about “Absoutes” or “Absolution of the dead person’s sins.” Is it correct to continue using this expression for the dead while we know that the sacrament of reconciliation is for the living, and the rite of final commendation and farewell seems not to insinuate any absolution. It is rather a call upon God’s mercy and a commendation of the deceased into God’s hands.
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A: The Introduction to the Ordo Exsequiarum says that the rite formerly called “absolution” of the dead would now be called “the final commendation and farewell” (6). It goes on to say that the meaning of the final commendation and farewell “does not signify a kind of purification of the deceased; this is what the Eucharistic Sacrifice accomplishes” (10).
Your interpretation is correct.