Organ donation and cremation

[rkberlin]

Hi,
where does the Church stand when it comes to organ donation and cremation? I always understood it that we- as a whole- will enter heaven ( God willing ). Does that mean that if we get cremated or organs are removed prior to burial, that can’t happen?
Thanks!

 

[steveandersen]

they’re OK

 

[Catholic90]

rkberlin:

Hi,
where does the Church stand when it comes to organ donation and cremation? I always understood it that we- as a whole- will enter heaven ( God willing ). Does that mean that if we get cremated or organs are removed prior to burial, that can’t happen?
Thanks!

They are both fine.

Otherwise, those who have had things removed via surgery would also be excluded, wouldn’t they?!? (tonsils, appendix, amputations, etc.).

Cremation is fine, but the ashes are not to be scattered.

 

[tjmiller]

At the General Resurrection, God will reconstitute all human bodies in a full and perfect state - even should they previously have been reduced to subatomic particles in a thermonuclear detonation…While the morality of organ donation and cremation may be questionable, those actions in themselves have no effect upon the Resurrecttion of the Body.

 

[mosher]

Catholic90:

They are both fine.

Otherwise, those who have had things removed via surgery would also be excluded, wouldn’t they?!? (tonsils, appendix, amputations, etc.).

Cremation is fine, but the ashes are not to be scattered.

Not only is there a restriction against scattering ashes it is also not permissable for the ashes to be ensconced at a home. The remains must be entombed (or buried) in holy ground.

 

[antonius]

As regards organ donation, we too were concerned about the morality of organ donation when my son needed a transplant 10 years ago. We were comforted to learn that Church teaching is very supportive of organ donation as an act of Christian charity. The following article gives some good information:

the-tidings.com/2005/0902/organ.htm

The unselfish act of becoming an organ donor recently took on a new shine with the revelation that Pope Benedict XVI is the first pope on record as being a card-carrying organ donor….

… In fact, organ donation is considered by the church as an act of charity and love, says Wallace. In his 1995 encyclical Evangelium Vitae (On the Value and Inviolability of Human Life), Pope John Paul II described organ donation as “everyday heroism”:

“A particularly praiseworthy example of such gestures is the donation of organs, performed in an ethically acceptable manner, with a view to offering a chance of health and even life itself to the sick who sometimes have no hope.” (Evangelium Vitae, n. 86)

 

[mosher]

The problem that occures with Organ Donation is that we have to be careful that when we give them it is truly Organ Donation and not Organ Harvesting which is immoral.

 

[Ortho]

mosher:

The problem that occures with Organ Donation is that we have to be careful that when we give them it is truly Organ Donation and not Organ Harvesting which is immoral.

What’s the difference?

 

[mosher]

Ortho:

What’s the difference?

The difference is that you are technically still alive when they start to remove your organs in harvesting. The church seriously frowns on this practice. For this reason I will not “re-up” my organ donor endorsement on my Drivers License but it will be in my will but it will make the distinction with appropriate direction for the person that is designated to make decisions for me if I am incapacitated.

 

[Eileen_T]

There are two types of organ transplantation that are acceptable to the Catholic Church:

• Tissue, a paired organ (i.e. you have two of them like for example, a kidney is a paired organ) or Bone Marrow from a living person The tissue or organ must not be essential for the life or health of the donor such as two kidneys
• Tissue after death e.g. the cornea, heart valves, skin, bone and connective tissue (tendon and ligaments)

Unpaired Vital Organs such as the heart or the liver after a declaration of brain death, must be harvested while the heart is beating; there is normal blood pressure and temperature; there are normal salt and water balances and many internal organs and systems are functioning to maintain the unity of the body.

Source: life.org.nz/euthanasiaethicalkeyissuesorganharvesting.htm

 

[Ortho]

mosher:

The difference is that you are technically still alive when they start to remove your organs in harvesting. The church seriously frowns on this practice. For this reason I will not “re-up” my organ donor endorsement on my Drivers License but it will be in my will but it will make the distinction with appropriate direction for the person that is designated to make decisions for me if I am incapacitated.

OK. Thanks.