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“Remember man that you are dust, and unto dust you will return.”
— Ash Wednesday services
For millions of Christians around the world, March 1 this year marks the beginning of Lent, the season of almsgiving, self-examination and repentance. Lent prepares us for the great feast of Easter. The fasting and acts of self-denial most of us make during Lent in food, drink and entertainment reflect a key truth about our faith. Christianity is incarnational. God’s Word became flesh in the person of Jesus Christ. His death on the cross and his resurrection from the grave remind us that each human being — body and soul — was made by God, redeemed by Christ and destined for eternal life.
The human body, even in death, has a unique dignity. Pondering our own mortality during Lent — our own “return to the dust” — invites us to humility and conversion. But Christians also have God’s promise of bodily resurrection on the Last Day. Thus, for Catholics, human flesh is never merely dead carbon. The body is always, in a very real sense, holy.
These are important thoughts to keep in mind as Denver readies itself for “BodyWorlds 2,” an exhibition sponsored by the Museum of Nature and Science. The creation of German anatomist Gunther von Hagens, “BodyWorlds 2” is a massively popular display of the human body seen by millions of people around the world over the past decade. What sets it apart from other exhibitions is simple. It does not use plastic models of human beings. Rather, it uses actual deceased persons who volunteered their bodies prior to death and signed confidentiality agreements. Their bodies have been rendered incorruptible by a special process called “plastination.”
Not surprisingly, some people have been troubled by von Hagens’ work. In Germany, one prominent Catholic pastor criticized the exhibition when it opened in Berlin in 2001 for allegedly treating corpses like “play-dough.” In this country, Rev. Michael Olson, adjunct professor of moral theology at the University of St. Thomas’ graduate school of theology in Houston, recently voiced concern that by objectifying unidentified corpses, the exhibit might lead to a lack of “respect for the human body or the human person.”
How should Colorado Catholics consider the exhibition? To their credit, George Sparks, president and CEO of the museum, and Dr. Bridget Coughlin, the museum’s curator of human health, have gone out of their way to involve the religious community and listen to moral and ethical concerns. We’re grateful for their sensitivity.
In every previous U.S. appearance of “BodyWorlds 2” — the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, the Diocese of Cleveland and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles — Catholic moral theologians have been involved in reviewing the exhibition for the local Church and found it to be within acceptable ethical standards. In principle, the Church does not object to the respectful use of the deceased human body for scientific or educational purposes.
In the Archdiocese of Denver, Mr. Richard Thompson, superintendent of Catholic schools, has advised our school principals that “BodyWorlds 2” is not appropriate for anyone younger than juniors in high school. Parents, of course, are the primary teachers of their children. They have the duty and freedom to proceed as they feel best. But, for young children especially, the exhibition may be unsettling; and for all viewers, “BodyWorlds 2” will raise very important questions about the destiny of the human person and the meaning of human dignity that cannot be answered by a museum, but only by the language of faith.
Properly prepared for and experienced, “BodyWorlds 2” — opening in Denver March 10 — can remind us of the complexity of God’s creation, brought to unique glory in the body of the human person. We also need to remember that the significance of a human life does not end on a museum floor. Each of us, and all of us, were made for eternity.
