Probably a simple question

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rayray81

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Hello,

This question caught me off guard at work the other day.

What does the Caholic Church have to say about tattoos?

Does the church have an “official” opinion on tattoos? I’m not sure, I don’t remember ever coming across anything in my readings. So I thought I’d bring it up here to be hashed out. Thanks in advance!
 
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rayray81:
Hello,

This question caught me off guard at work the other day.

What does the Caholic Church have to say about tattoos?

Does the church have an “official” opinion on tattoos? I’m not sure, I don’t remember ever coming across anything in my readings. So I thought I’d bring it up here to be hashed out. Thanks in advance!
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I remember reading something in the Bible about tattoos so will look it up. I don’t think it encourages it, thats for sure.
 
You know what…that Vincent is really on the ball and he is all over these boards. 👍
 
The Church doesn’t have a specific teaching on this, except for her general teaching on modesty. But what is, or is not, modest differs depending on time, place, circumstance, culture, etc.

So getting a tattoo in one culture might be immodest, and so be at least venially sinful (or mortal, depending on the nature of the tattoo), but in another context totally okay. This also goes for bodiy piercings and styles of dress.

Many of the Desert Fathers and early Irish monks had tattoos of crosses on their foreheads or right hands, and this is still a common practice among Coptic and Ethiopian Christians (Orthodox and Catholic). So I can tell you for a fact that the Church has never unilaterally condemned tattooing.
 
Someone once put it this way.

Can you imagine Our Lord or The Blessed Virgin with a tattoo, even if it was socially acceptable at the time? :eek:
 
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Fidelis:
Someone once put it this way.

Can you imagine Our Lord or The Blessed Virgin with a tattoo, even if it was socially acceptable at the time? :eek:
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No; but that’s because the Old Law forbade tattooing (Leviticus 19:28). But this was a ceremonial law, not one to which Gentiles are bound.

As I noted, tattooing has a venerable place in the Eastern Catholic tradition, and so we shouldn’t be so judgmental.
 
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DominvsVobiscvm:
No; but that’s because the Old Law forbade tattooing (Leviticus 19:28). But this was a ceremonial law, not one to which Gentiles are bound.

As I noted, tattooing has a venerable place in the Eastern Catholic tradition, and so we shouldn’t be so judgmental.
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You missed my key point: Even if it was acceptable at the time, i.e., the Law and social conventions aside. It is not a question of judgementalism. In our time and culture, there is only one reason to get a tattoo, IMHO, and that is vanity.

So I stand by my original question, Can you imagine Our Lord or The Blessed Virgin with a tattoo, even if it was socially acceptable at the time? 😃
 
My priest and I were talking about tattoos a couple of weeks ago. He observed to me (quite paraphrased) “I think that what might explain the sudden prevalence of tattooing in our culture is a deeply felt need by people to be committed to something. They don’t hold to any deep convictions, and they replace religious faith and practice with this superficial form of commitment. They commit to having their skin branded.” I’d agree with DominusVobiscum and Jimmy Akin that there’s nothing sinful about tattooing in itself. But it does seem in my experience that folks my age (mid twenties) who are religious feel no inclination to get tattoos whereas a great portion of the non-religious that I know feel very strongly that they just have to get a tattoo (or another tattoo).
That is of course leaving aside Dom’s observation about the venerable tradition of tattooing in Eastern cultures. Not that I am judgemental towards my non-religious friends for their tattoos, but I think I agree with my priest that the sudden increase in tattooing does relate to modern, widespread irreligiosity.
 
I read somewhere, years ago, that the Coptic Christians would sometimes tattoo a cross on their wrist, so that they would not be able to deny their faith, even under torture. I do not know if this is apocryphal or not.
 
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