Odd question about cannibalism!

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SisterSnowflake

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Hello!

I must pose a very odd question…I teach high school religion, so I get many questions that I have never thought of in my entire life!

“If a Catholic is stranded on a mountain top (they started out with “island”, but remembered fish!) with other people, is it against Church teaching to eat the other people IF they have already died?”

I personally would be inclined to say that it is NOT acceptable to eat the people because of the dignity of the human person AND because of Catholic laws regarding the treatment of the dead. However, I could not give a definitive answer because I am a systematist, not a moralist.

What say you?

AND, thanks in advance!
 
My amateur opinion is that it would not be sinful if there was no other choice and it was done as respectfully as possible. One doesn’t have to starve to death.
 
I believe that the premise of the question is faulty for several reasons, primarily because the act of eating dead flesh is in no way connected with any sort of physical rescue, or long term survival. Even if it were, it would remain morally unacceptable, as it places the importance of self over the bodily integrity and reverence due another person. I cannot locate a direct reference to cannibalism in the catechism, but it is a moral imperative that the bodies of the dead be treated with reverence. The consumption of such a dead body certainly violates any sense of reverence of that body. From the catechism:
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.
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2301 Autopsies can be morally permitted for legal inquests or scientific research. The free gift of organs after death is legitimate and can be meritorious.
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The Church permits cremation, provided that it does not demonstrate a denial of faith in the resurrection of the body.
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This “hypothetical” situation actually happened nearly 30 years ago. All the survivors were Catholic.

I don’t recall that the morality of their situation was directly addressed directly but am fairly certain that none of them were excommunicated.
 
Yes one could eat the bodies of the others, but out of reverence for the dead. In fact this has already happened. In 1972 a Soccer team crashed in the Andes Mountain to survive they had to eat the bodies of the already dead. pbs.org/independentlens/stranded/
 
The soccer players from Argentina who were stranded in Chile, made known by the book and subsequent movie “Alive” consumed the flesh of the dead for survival.

Many of these survivors were Catholic. I believe that the church actually made a formal statement about this to the effect that they did NOT commit grave sin.

These are of course the most unusual circumstances. Generally in a regular course of life and death, one should not consume the flesh of another person.

However, our souls are not one with our bodies after death, and at that point we are flesh and bones, our soul already in purgatory or, perhaps, heaven.
 
As people of a certain age (such as myself) might remember, an airplane carrying a Catholic college’s football (aka soccer) team which crashed high in the Andes mountains in the early 1970s. The survivors, trapped at an very high elevation and hearing that rescue efforts had been called off, resorted to cannibalism of the dead bodies to survive.

I can not find an authoritative source to confirm this, but according to an account in one of the books written about the ordeal, the survivors were told that it would have been a grave sin to allow themselves to die, so they did not do wrong under the circumstances.

Perhaps others there are familiar with Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571? I know the story has been made into a few books, movies and television programs.

Edit:
I see Larsenl1 remembered the same thing as I did.
 
po18guy said:
I believe that the premise of the question is faulty for several reasons, primarily because the act of eating dead flesh is in no way connected with any sort of physical rescue, or long term survival. Even if it were, it would remain morally unacceptable, as it places the importance of self over the bodily integrity and reverence due another person. I cannot locate a direct reference to cannibalism in the catechism, but it is a moral imperative that the bodies of the dead be treated with reverence. The consumption of such a dead body certainly violates any sense of reverence of that body. From the catechism:
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Common, everyone. How many of us would be in a logical & proper state of mind if crashed or stranded on an island, and starving to death with dead people all around? I don’t think we could sin, under these extreme circumstances.

I would also have a moral obligation to survive for my family. — Unless, of course I had my good friend, “Wilson” with me!!!:cool:
 
Dale_M said:
As people of a certain age (such as myself) might remember, an airplane carrying a Catholic college’s football (aka soccer) team which crashed high in the Andes mountains in the early 1970s. The survivors, trapped at an very high elevation and hearing that rescue efforts had been called off, resorted to cannibalism of the dead bodies to survive.

I can not find an authoritative source to confirm this, but according to an account in one of the books written about the ordeal, the survivors were told that it would have been a grave sin to allow themselves to die, so they did not do wrong under the circumstances.

Perhaps others there are familiar with Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571? I know the story has been made into a few books, movies and television programs.

Edit:
I see Larsenl1 remembered the same thing as I did.
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:clapping:

:clapping::clapping:
 
Dale_M said:
As people of a certain age (such as myself) might remember, an airplane carrying a Catholic college’s football (aka soccer) team which crashed high in the Andes mountains in the early 1970s. The survivors, trapped at an very high elevation and hearing that rescue efforts had been called off, resorted to cannibalism of the dead bodies to survive.

I can not find an authoritative source to confirm this, but according to an account in one of the books written about the ordeal, the survivors were told that it would have been a grave sin to allow themselves to die, so they did not do wrong under the circumstances.

Perhaps others there are familiar with Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571? I know the story has been made into a few books, movies and television programs.

Edit:
I see Larsenl1 remembered the same thing as I did.
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This is correct. The church agreed that in that specific, extreme circumstance, it was NOT immoral to cannibalize the dead. The argument made was actually the same one used for organ donation. It was considered the donation of a body part from a clearly deceased person that directly aided the survival of another person, when absolutely no other viable option existed.
 
THANKS for all of your responses! We discussed this question at the convent last night, and we agree with poguy 18…but your many responses will certainly give the juniors and seniors some good points to discuss and debate.

WOW! I did not know that this scenario had actually happened! I was not born at that time and had never heard the story of the team’s crashed flight.

Again, thanks to all!

And, yes…we did laugh about the day of abstinence comment, as well. 🙂

God bless and may we never be in such a situation as the one described.
 
SisterSnowflake said:
WOW! I did not know that this scenario had actually happened! I was not born at that time and had never heard the story of the team’s crashed flight.
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Dear Sister,

As a mother of two teenagers and a past RE instructor, my guess is that the kid(s) posing the question already knew that it happened in real life in th 70’s because the movie was fairly recent and the History Channel has covered it and aired the documentary of the filmmakers’ trek over the same steps of the men who walked out of the mountains several times.

So you might say it was a trick question.

Pray persistently. God Bless you for your vocation.

-Larsen
 
Dale_M said:
As people of a certain age (such as myself) might remember, an airplane carrying a Catholic college’s football (aka soccer) team which crashed high in the Andes mountains in the early 1970s. The survivors, trapped at an very high elevation and hearing that rescue efforts had been called off, resorted to cannibalism of the dead bodies to survive.
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Actually, the link I posted indicates it was a rugby team (also a form of football).
 
SonCatcher said:
Actually, the link I posted indicates it was a rugby team (also a form of football).
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Yes it was a rugby team, rather than a soccer team. Thanks for mentioning that. Also, I incorrectly stated the team was from Argentina and they were Uraguay. So much for my memory. :-\
 
larsenl1 said:
Yes it was a rugby team, rather than a soccer team. Thanks for mentioning that. Also, I incorrectly stated the team was from Argentina and they were Uraguay. So much for my memory. :-\
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Well, memories often fade with time. I messed up too. :o

Let us hope that no one is placed in their situation again.
 
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