Recently, the pastor and I were chatting and he told me about a teacher at a local Catholic school who had a very unique tattoo. It was at an end-of-year celebration when it caught his attention and he asked her about the significance of it. He said her immediate response was along the lines of, “Oh great, the pastor is asking about my tattoo,” but he responded that he was merely curious and in no way judgmental about it.
It reminded me of a request I received to come and talk to a youth group several years ago. One of the youth ministers said that some of the youth had brought up questions about body art and what the Church’s position was on the matter. I assume that the expectation was for me to come and tell the kids about the evils of tattoos and body art, but I could be wrong.
I did a little research and didn’t find much regarding any official Church teaching–really just a lot of opinions in the absence of anything definitive–so I decided to try and think about it from an open perspective. I haven’t ever really found body art to be shocking or scandalous, except for some truly extreme examples…and I even know several priests, young and old, who have tattoos. I even found an interesting story of one priest who uses his tattoos as a point of evangelization and ministry.
I know that in some cultures various types of body art are considered to be an adornment and beautification of the body. Our western culture has, for a long time, viewed most body art and tattoos as taboo. The stereotype used to be that only sailors and people on the fringes of society would do that to themselves. However, culture is a living thing, meaning it changes. We must be able to adapt to the inevitability of change around us and respond in the most appropriate and gracious manner.
Our culture is a mix of various people and traditions from around the globe, and the pace of change seems to be ever-increasing. In the past several decades tattoos and body art have become fairly mainstream. People from all walks of life and persuasions choose to express themselves in numerous ways.
If the Church recognizes the value of diverse forms of human expression and appreciation of the human body in the different cultures, then objectively it is not sinful to adorn and beautify the body. This places the question of the morality of body art on the subjective plane–it is up to the individual to decide.
There are really two questions that a person should think about when considering body art. The first is the significance of the art under consideration–is it in any way demonic, disrespectful or scandalous to others? The second is the reason why one wants to get body art done in the first place–is it to be rebellious, shocking or scandalous to others?
If the art is tasteful and the intention is truly adornment, beautification and self-expression, then there really are no moral prohibitions against getting the body art.
Pope Francis even spoke about the cultural significance of tattoos a few years ago when he addressed a group of young people ahead of a synod focused on Young People, Faith and the Discernment of Vocations. Check out an article regarding his comments here.
The last thing a person may want to consider, though not necessarily a moral one, is the question almost all mothers ask when someone is thinking about getting a tattoo. They are permanent…do you really want that on you forever?
Fr Paul I agree with you, if the tattoo is tasteful and not intended to be rebellious, shocking or scandalous, no harm done. However, I still don’t want one!!
Fr Paul nice article. I had a cross tattooed on my side after my father passed away. Just reminds me that my parents are forever by my side.
Beautiful!
One of my sons and one of my daughters have a tattoo or two which they got as adults and are not offensive. And I totally agree with your final question for someone considering permanent body art!
Love the ending quote and picture!
Great article, Fr Paul!
Father Paul, as someone who has a tattoo I can identify with your early statement regarding how tattoos were viewed. In my neighborhood the only people who had tattoos where sailors and convicts these were ideals that appealed to those who walked the tightrope between working class and poverty . The Tattoo were a also an outward expression of male passage. My three older brothers all them, my friends did as well as their brothers. As the 70’s blended into the 80’s tattoos had migrated from housing projects to the more respected parts of town. This was a foreshadowing the adoption of this form of expression into more mainstream American cultural acceptance.
By the time I got my tattoo it had lost its rebellious and proletarian roots (Nothing Gold can Stay), it still held the connection to my family and to what I understood at the time to be masculine maturity. So at 17 I got mine and I regretted it before the ink was dry, however over the years it has become part of my story and important part of my growth. I am glad it’s permanent I am glad it’s silly and cliche, but the 17 year old kid that got was none of those things, it took me a while to realize but my”tatt” was part of journey.