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Hi, Catherine —
Thanks for the question.
Well, cosmetic surgery covers quite
a wide range of procedures. Certainly,
the Church does not object to skin
grafting for burn victims.
To the best of my knowledge, there
is not a huge body of teaching on
the specific topic of cosmetic surgery,
but there are underlying Biblical
principles with regards to modesty
in the way one dresses, adorns oneself,
and the extent to which one is consumed
by their external appearance.
St. Peter in his Epistles admonishes
us to let our inner beauty be our
radiance, not to be excessive in
our dress and jewelry. (1 Peter 3:3-4)
Having said that, there is no prohibition
against nice apparel, make up, earrings,
or fashion.
The same principle should be used
with regards to cosmetic surgery.
- Is it pure vanity? or
- Is it a reasonable procedure
to correct a defect that is grossly
distorting our appearance?
As Christians, we need to be careful
that we don't become slaves to Madison
Avenue images of what we should look
like.
We need to ask ourselves:
- What is the purpose of the surgery?
If a woman decides she is not enough
of a woman, or that she is not turning
enough heads on the beach, and decides
to make certain areas "augmented" to
attract more people to herself, then
I'd say that is pretty close to,
if not over, the line for vanity.
The same holds true for men, who
are being told to be obsessed with
their hairlines or abs. Others are
poorly advised to run out and get
calf implants to appear more muscular.
The Church expects us to have genuine
respect for our bodies, as they are
part of the entire person and the
Temple of the Holy Spirit. Mutilation
is not acceptable. While most people
don't mutilate themselves, in the
way we would use the word, excessive
use of:
- piercing
- tattoos
- bizarre hair styles, and
- coloring
can be forms of mutilation rooted
in an obsession to draw attention
(positive or negative) to oneself.
This can be either a sign of low
self value or vanity, which are two
sides of the same coin.
Another consideration is the appropriateness
of age.
If a woman in her twenties
has some kind of condition which
makes her look like she is in her
fifties, then one could argue that
any cosmetic procedure, surgical
or otherwise, used to alleviate the
condition is therapeutic.
On the
other hand, if a person is seventy
and is still getting face lifts in
an obsessive attempt not to age,
then I would say that it is a vanity
issue. So the key question is:
- Why is the person doing it?
Hope this helps,
John DiMascio
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