I heard a priest answer this before and the answer is no, the persons soul would not leave the body until they were officially dead.In view of the recent news concerning a person being declared brain dead and the rest of the body being supported by machines only, I’ve been wondering if the soul leaves the body once the brain is no longer alive. Could this person already be in the afterlife when the family is still hoping for a recovery??
There are numerous threads on this specific case.I’m not so sure we should be talking about specific cases in these forums.
According to the National Catholic Bioethics Center:I heard a priest answer this before and the answer is no, the persons soul would not leave the body until they were officially dead.
So it sounds like yes, this person’s soul could already be in the afterlife, while her family and friends are hoping for a recovery, since she has been declared “dead.”What does Catholic theology say about this definition of death?
Neurological criteria are compatible with Catholic teaching that a human being is a substantial union of body and rational soul. When all brain function is completely and irreversibly lost, this may be taken as a reasonable indicator that the rational soul is no longer present.