The Carmelite scapular, carrying the powerful promise of escaping hell, is a popular devotion.
But scapulars can be awkward under certain types of clothes or simply easy to forget in the morning. So, could a well-intentioned Catholic already enrolled in the Brown Scapular Confraternity get a tattoo of the image of the scapular on their skin and receive those same graces and promises?
CNA asked; theologians and priests answered.
“It seems the answer is quite simply, no,” Dr. Mikail Whitfield, a professor of theology at Benedictine College in Atchinson, Kansas, told CNA.
The reasons for this have to do with the way the Catholic Church defines sacramentals, and the nature of tattoos, he added.
“While a tattoo is a thing, it is hard to consider it an object. It is more properly an image, though admittedly images can be sacred Furthermore, it is certainly not a ‘common object’ of daily life by which we can be reminded that all the things we do in this life, even the simplest things like wearing clothing, are supposed to be ordered towards our heavenly end,” Whitfield said.
Furthermore, he added, tattoos do not seem to imitate any other sacramental aspects of the Church, and they have not been set aside by the Church as sacramentals themselves.
In fact, the Catholic Church has not made any definitive statements on the morality, or lack thereof, of getting tattoos, and so answers to questions about tattoos vary widely among theologians and priests.
“I don’t think we can talk about tattoos as something good,” said Fr. Luis Granados, D.C.J.M, who serves as the J. Francis Cardinal Stafford Chair of Moral Theology at St. John Vianney theological seminary in Denver.
“The problem of a tattoo is…we are misunderstanding the meaning of the body,” he said. “Our body is called to be accepted as a gift from God. We can heal what is sick, but we are called to accept our body, with its characteristics.”
Adornments of the body, such as makeup or nail polish, are different because they are not permanent changes to one’s body, Granados said.
However, in some parts of the world, there are deeply rooted traditions of Christian tattoos. Some Coptic Christian churches require that Christians must have a tattoo of a cross on their arm in order to be admitted into their churches.
Seeing a priest or a religious sister or brother with tattoos may become a more common occurrence as well, because according to a 2015 Harris Poll, a whopping 47% of millennials reported that they have at least one tattoo.
Br. MJ Groark O.F.M. Cap., is one of those millennials, and is “heavily tattooed.”
“As a millennial (and soon to be priest), I can tell you that my tattoos have been generally met with overwhelming generosity. I have a heck of a conversion story, and these are part of it,” he told CNA.
“I can tell you that God is calling many men and women from this generation into ministry, and a whole bunch of us have tattoos. It’s part of our generation’s way of expressing our lives, and increasingly, our spiritual beliefs,” he said.
Groark said that considering what he learned in his moral theology training, he thinks the morality of a tattoo lies in its meaning.
Father Ambrose Dobrozsi is another tattooed millennial priest in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Ohio. Dobrozsi told CNA that he did not think tattoos could not be considered sacramentals in the strict, proper sense of the word.
However, he added, it is possible that tattoos could be “sacramentals” in a broader sense of the word.
“A permanent image, engraved on the skin, could certainly serve as a constant, physical reminder of our new life in Christ. The image of a rosary, a cross, or other sacramental on our skin could lead us frequently to pray, to desire the seven sacraments more, and to think and act in communion with the Church,” he said.
Whitfield said that another reason that a tattoo would not be a proper scapular is because “an image is not the thing it images.”
Full story at Catholic News Agency.
The comments against tatoos seem like an answer seeking reasons.
Is there a published authoritative statement from the Church regarding tatoos in general and an icon tatoo in particular?
If you spend this much time on a question like this, you are probably missing the enormous love the Christ has for each of us, who calls us to his Father, to be with him forever. If you care this much about what you wear around your neck or the ink in your skin, you’ve pretty much missed the point: God loves you and wants to share his life with you and your eternal life with Him.
can a nose ring be a sacramental?
@ S. Cruz Luce: EXCELLENT response!!!
Well in the Old Testament the Israelite women seemed to use them only for adornment, but I doubt they had the pollution in the air that we have now and as many allergies, so I do not recommend them Also, they remind me of Taurus the Bull. I immediately want to put a rope in one.
Actually, Taurus the Bull does not have a nose ring, it is a bull in one of the cartoon characters.
Our bodies our NOT our own, the Bible says. We dafame the creation by imbedding tattoos on the body. For women, it destroys their femininity. Big time. Are there some exceptions? Perhaps, but it is NOT a good thing. In some cases might be neutral. For women, horrific assault on the feminine. Also, the Christian is aping pagan culture.
The comment in the article that tattoos are some sort of deep expression of personality by this generation. Really? I call it a sheep herd mentality, the opposity of expressing one’s uniqueness, quite the opposite, especially among women. Women are simply fashion victims, as per usual. The LACK of individuality is behind the plethora of tattoo parlors. Let’s get real.
Thirdly, the Bible says we are a “royal priesthood. A people set apart.” That is NOT what a ‘me too’ tattoo says, Again, just the opposite. Certainly, some of the “with it” crowd are going to huff and puff and say it doesn’t matter, like all the busters who say what we wear to Mass doesn’t matter, that the Pope really should wear ugly shoes, that rock and roll is cool at Mass, as the applaud the decline of real culture, replaced by biker/skater/v gamer “culture.” Basta!!
Jay, you epresed my views perfectly. I could not have said it better! The “T” in tattoo strands for Trash, especially for a women. Do you think those mindless robots will wonder what tattoos will look like when their skin wrinkles?
Leviticus 19:28 appears to discourage tattoos. Whatever we do with our bodies should be done for the glory of God. Tattoos are also expensive – could not this money be used for the poor or the mission of the Church?
“In the year 1251, in the town of Aylesford in England, Our Lady appeared to St. Simon Stock, a Carmelite. She handed him a brown woolen scapular and said, “This shall be a privilege for you and all Carmelites, that anyone dying in this habit shall not suffer eternal fire.”
A brown scapular. Get it? Not a tattoo.
Disrespectful! The body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and must not be defiled! I have worn the blessed Carmelite Brown Scapular lifelong, along with the Miraculous Medal! Many years ago, I got permission to trade my cloth Scapular for a blessed sterling silver one. The blessed Scapular is a holy sacramental, and should never be removed.
One does not need to tattoo ones body, which Leviticus discourages.The brown scapular can be used at night and in the winter, or the scapular medal or the five or four way metal cross. The cross also has the Miraculous Medal, St. Joseph and St. Christopher on it, and the dove for the Holy Spirit on the five way. The wool scapular can get itchy, but that is a type of penance, kind of like a mini hair shirt. The scapular can been washed in a mild soap, such as Woolite.
To get a scapular tattoo would be to take away the whole meaning of wearing one as one is supposed to kiss the scapular or medal when one puts it on to remind one of his dedication to Christ and His Mother.
Regarding my last post, there are also scapular prayers that come with the scapulars that can be said while putting on the scapular or metal. One starts “O Queen of Carmel …..”
I am generally opposed to tattoos. I can’t say that unequivocally, however. I work for a Fire Dept. and there, and in some other professions, working with a ring on can be dangerous. I know men who have had a wedding ring tattoo’d onto their ring finger to indicate their marriage. Of course, when they put their wedding rings on, the tattoos are no longer visible. Also, there is no clear Church teaching against tattoos. I would cautious us against judging younger Catholic, many of whom are bearing tattoos. I hope we encourage a deep appreciation of (the theology of) the body. Then, fewer young people would be likely to get tattoos.
Deacon Anderson, I agree. There are reasonable exceptions. The small dots that radiologists tattoo on cancer patients to direct the radiation is one of them. I suppose, too, that men who are afraid of losing their scapulars or medals in battle, might have a small tattoo of one, but they could only be given permission by the Holy Father. None of the military men in our family had tattoos, and some where in actual battle.
II have seen beautiful young women who have ruined their lovely young arms by having them tattooed up and down. It makes me want to cry. It seems like a type of self punishment.
Anne,
Thanks for a laugh when I read your comment. I have (thanks be to God) beaten cancer twice and, full disclosure, do have three very small tattoos from my radiologist, which virtually no one will ever see! And, please extend appreciation to your family members who serve or have served in our armed forces.
Deacon Craig
My husband and I are survivors and two of the dotted ones also. I told him Deacon Anderson said, “Thanks for his service.” He was in the Air Force with one brother a marine and one a soldier. My family had four sailors and one soldier. The living members are in other cities and others are long gone
Sunday when I got on the freeway coming from church, a sign on the freeway entry said “Free tattoo removal”, so there is still hope for the multi tattooed, (Lots of laughter.)