Cannibalism a sin?

[Thomas2]

I’m sure I’m not the first one who has heard that one of the accusations against the early Christians was that of being cannibals who advocated the eating of human flesh because of the mystery surrounding the Body and Blood. Is this the time to ressurrect this misunderstanding or just a good opportunity for a very bad Jeffrey Dahmer joke?

Peace and all good,

Thomas2

 

[DominvsVobiscvm]

Here is Father Stephen F. Torraco’s take on the subject:

Cannibalism is indeed a serious evil when this practice is deliberately pursued. As such, cannibalism is the ultimate example of the evil of reducing a human person to a means to an end. In the extreme case of the danger of death because of hunger, we have, not a deliberate pursuit as a regular practice, but rather, assuming that persons involved die of natural causes and are not murdered for the sake of consuming them, a morally justified measure in an extreme emergency.

 

[Jdg164]

DominvsVobiscvm:

Jdg:

Jesus said that nothing that goes into the mouth makes one unclean. And decalred that **all **foods are clean.

Please provide the passage.

DominvsVobiscvm:

Why is no one commenting on my first post on this thread, which is the closest thing we have to tracing an official Church stance on the subject?
It seems to me that people are taking their own cultural tabboos and reading them into their private interpretations of Scripture, without any reference to Magisterial teaching or practice.

1- The initial poster of this thread asked for scripture and/or church teaching. I could not find anything in the CCC re: cannibalism (although I’m on the lookout for it) but did find the scripture passages I’ve listed in my previous 2 posts.
2- I see nothing that lists the essay you have linked as “Official” or “Magisterial.”

DominvsVobiscvm:

Sounds awfully Protestant to me . . .

How extremely rude. Just because I am attempting to understand scripture using my own intellect and the teaching I have received from priests and professors in the past (and in the absence of any official documentation from the church), that does not suggest I am in any way protestant. Bad form.

 

[JesusIsTheWay]

DominvsVobiscvm:

Cannibalism is not intrinsically evil.

We know this because Christ himself told us there is no such thing as an unclean food, and that nothing that comes into us can defile us.

Peter’s vision was referring to teaching the gospel to the gentiles… had nothing to do with the way we eat… there were other events that dealt with that

As far as cannibalism goes… it would really go bothways… you don’t desecrate the temple… however… what is your body after the life and soul have left and the spirit returns? Is it just flesh? I dunno… I hope I am never put into that situation…

 

[ralphinal]

JesusIsTheWay:

As far as cannibalism goes… it would really go bothways… you don’t desecrate the temple… however… what is your body after the life and soul have left and the spirit returns? Is it just flesh? I dunno… I hope I am never put into that situation…

I usually do not agree with JITW, but I think he is onto something. It would be wrong, as covered by many other commands, to kill someone to eat them or to use a ritual sacrifice, but in extreme cases, I can see how it might be at least morally neutral. The plane crash incident in Alive has been mentioned, and I think that this is the best example of it being at least neutral. The Donner party, as I remember the story, would not be, as they killed others to eat them. The practices of various tribes where by consuming their enemies gives them strength is obviously wrong.

 

[Poisson]

loyola rambler:

Let’s just pray none of us ever has to ask this question for real.

Amen to that friend!

 

[quintessential5]

Jdg164:

DominvsVobiscvm:

Jesus said that nothing that goes into the mouth makes one unclean. And decalred that all foods are clean.

Please provide the passage.

Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a man can make him ‘unclean’ by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him ‘unclean.’ " Mark 7:14-15

 

[Jdg164]

Ok folks, here’s my case!
From the Catechism:

582 Going even further, Jesus perfects the dietary law, so important in Jewish daily life, by revealing its pedagogical meaning through a divine interpretation: “Whatever goes into a man from outside cannot defile him. . . (Thus he declared all foods clean.). . . What comes out of a man is what defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts. . .” In presenting with divine authority the definitive interpretation of the Law, Jesus found himself confronted by certain teachers of the Law who did not accept his interpretation of the Law, guaranteed though it was by the divine signs that accompanied it. This was the case especially with the sabbath laws, for he recalls, often with rabbinical arguments, that the sabbath rest is not violated by serving God and neighbor, which his own healings did.

It is my understanding that this declares all foods clean. I’m not really sure humans are considered food (unless there are some Kentucky Fried Kentuckian fast food joints of which I am unaware). So I maintain that cannibalism in and of itself is a no-no. Now, in the event one is stranded in the middle of nowhere, with no food but the corpse of his buddy lying next to him, I suppose the dictates for “moral conscience” (1776-1802) would come into effect. This is too lengthy to put here but this caught my attention:

**1789 Some rules apply in every case: **

**- One may never do evil so that good may result from it; **

**- the Golden Rule: “Whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them.” **

- charity always proceeds by way of respect for one’s neighbor and his conscience: “Thus sinning against your brethren and wounding their conscience . . . you sin against Christ.” Therefore "it is right not to . . . do anything that makes your brother stumble."

So the question now is, is cannibalism, even in extreme cases, evil? This is ambiguous at best. Under “Respect for the Dead” we are told:

2300 The bodies of the dead must be treated with respect and charity, in faith and hope of the Resurrection. The burial of the dead is a corporal work of mercy; it honors the children of God, who are temples of the Holy Spirit.

The CCC notes that cremation, autopsies, and organ donation are permissible (organ donation encouraged in 2296). Could cannibalism in emergency situations fall under the same jurisdiction as organ donation? I suppose one could make a case for it. But I haven’t found anything official from the church on it. I suppose the quote from Fr. Steven Torraco (above #22) is the best we have on that.

 

[DominvsVobiscvm]

The CCC notes that cremation, autopsies, and organ donation are permissible (organ donation encouraged in 2296). Could cannibalism in emergency situations fall under the same jurisdiction as organ donation? I suppose one could make a case for it. But I haven’t found anything official from the church on it. I suppose the quote from Fr. Steven Torraco (above #22) is the best we have on that.

I think the closest thing we have to an official statement are the words I quoted above. I repeat some of them again:

There are several examples of human cannibalism undertaken for survival, which have won establishment approval, from legal or church hierarchies. A striking recent example is the cannibalism of members of a Uruguayan rugby party who survived an airplane crash in the high Andes (dramatised by Read, P.P. 1974. Alive. Avon, New York). Their eating of dead companions, evidently necessary for survival, was condoned by the Catholic Church of Uruguay and by other prominent Catholic thinkers. Interestingly, Rubio, Auxiliary Bishop of Montevideo, justified such cannibalism, necessary for survival, through a medical transplant comparison.

The “Andes Survivor” incident, made famous in the popular mind by the book and movie* Alive*, was an incident that made headlines worldwide when it happened several decades ago. If the Catholics of the party had sinned by eating their companions, and if the approval of the Uruguayan Church’s approval was just plain wrong, wouldn’t someone from the Vatican have stepped in and overruled their judgement?

 

[heliumspark]

I think that it is interesting how the Eucharist often is denounced as ‘cannibalism’. Now we see how debatable it is whether cannibalism is intrinsically evil.

If we say that cannibalism in dire circumstances is like an organ transplant, because the cannibal in that case needs to eat to survive, I think it is very appropriate to call the Eucharist cannibalism. We are, after all, eating the body and blood of Jesus. And it is justified, because not only to we have his consent (like an organ donor card with organ donors), but we are in dire circumstances because of our sin. That is why Jesus says, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, you have no life in you” (Jn 6:53)

Unless we get this organ transplant, so to speak, from Jesus, we will be subjected to the second death, because we have no life in us. It is justified cannibalism.

Watch me get railed on this post

 

[fathertom]

I remember talking to this one guy who said he ate his wife out. You wouldn’t believe what he said when I asked him for more details!

 

[De_Maria]

I think that it is interesting how the Eucharist often is denounced as ‘cannibalism’. Now we see how debatable it is whether cannibalism is intrinsically evil.

If we say that cannibalism in dire circumstances is like an organ transplant, because the cannibal in that case needs to eat to survive, I think it is very appropriate to call the Eucharist cannibalism. We are, after all, eating the body and blood of Jesus. And it is justified, because not only to we have his consent (like an organ donor card with organ donors), but we are in dire circumstances because of our sin. That is why Jesus says, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, you have no life in you” (Jn 6:53)

Unless we get this organ transplant, so to speak, from Jesus, we will be subjected to the second death, because we have no life in us. It is justified cannibalism.

Watch me get railed on this post

Lol!!! I guess the Barrister was right…sort of…

 

[johnnyt3000]

Cannibalism is not intrinsically evil.

We know this because Christ himself told us there is no such thing as an unclean food, and that nothing that comes into us can defile us.

As far as the Church’s official position, here’s an excerpt from the famous essay “In Defense of Cannibalism” from the renowned philosopher Richard Routely (Senior Research Fellow at the Department of Philosophy, Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University):

So it would seem that eating human flesh in case of emergency is no different than receiving an organ transplant. Interesting, huh?

I wonder, though, about ritual cannibalism. Some heathen cultures practice this, and it’s something done out of reverence for one’s leaders, heroes, or ancestors (once these have died of natural causes). Since this in no way represents to these people a denial or betrayal of human dignity, I honestly don’t see why a converted people could not inculturate this into their Catholicism.

What say you all?

The Church teaches that the remains of people must be respected. We have to bury our dead.