Catholic Cemetery Headstones

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The Archdiocese of Camden County New Jersey has a division called The Catholic Cemeteries Office. This office controls and oversees the installation of Catholic headstones and Catholic Mausoleums in all of the fifteen cemeteries it controls.

Archdiocese Requirements & Guidelines for Catholic Headstones

The type of Catholic headstones and Mausoleums permissible varies among each cemetery, and even among different sections within each cemetery. Catholic headstones are unique in the fact that they are all required, as per Archdiocese regulations, to have a cross or crucifix placed in a prominent position as part of the design of the headstone. It is only in recent history that the Archdiocese of Camden County New Jersey began allowing non-religious carvings and designs on Catholic headstones. Families can now place anything from cars, boats, and pets, to photographs on their Catholic Headstones and Catholic Mausoleums.

This change in Catholic headstone design policy by The Archdiocese is a big deal. The freedom to design a custom headstone, and to personalize the headstone, is huge to most families. The majority of people who select a cemetery headstone want to design it to represent the person it is made for. For the first time in Archdiocese headstone history, your loved one comes first, and God comes second. It was previously the other way around as the headstone was not allowed to contain any monument emblem or monument carving that was not religious in nature.

The South Jersey Catholic Cemeteries are comprised of fifteen Catholic Cemeteries throughout Southern New Jersey. The cemeteries they operate are All Saints Cemetery in Newfield, Calvary Cemetery in Cherry Hill, New Saint Mary Cemetery in Bellmawr, Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Berlin, Saint Joseph’s Cemetery in Swedesboro, Saint Mary’s Cemetery in Williamstown, Holy Cross Cemetery in Vineland , Sacred Heart Cemetery in Vineland, Our Lady of Victories Cemetery in Landisville, Saint Casimir Cemetery in Woodbine, Resurrection Cemetery in Clermont, and Saint Mary’s Cemetery in Cape May. Although there are some similarities in the headstone requirements among these cemeteries, you need to be certain of what is required prior to making your purchase. And, Memorials by Design will help guide you easily through the process.

Several years ago, in 2014, The Catholic Cemeteries Office hired a new superintendent named Marianne Linka. She immediately made many changes to the Catholic headstone rules and regulations. The most profound change she instituted was the creation of a list of “recommend catholic monument companies”. This list, we presume, was designed to help families in a time of need, but it actually serves to steer families to specific monument companies in South Jersey.

Memorials by Design, who has been placing Catholic headstones at the Archdiocese Cemeteries for nearly 25 years, was excluded from this list. We are not the only area monument company not on this list. The reasons for this are unknown to us and, when contacted, the Archdiocese gave us no sound reasoning for this exclusion.

Consider the fact that some of the Catholic monument companies on this list do not exist, and their phone numbers are not valid. In addition, five of the other Catholic monument companies on this list are owned by the same parent company. Anyone can easily see that this just an attempt to prevent families from shopping around effectively for a Catholic headstone in Southern New Jersey. It is collusion in its most basic form, and an attempt at monopolizing the Catholic headstone and Catholic mausoleum sales in New Jersey.

Catholic Cemetery Headstones

Catholic Cemetery Headstones

Archdiocese Requirements & Guidelines for Catholic Headstones

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