FAITH AND TATTOOS: POSSIBLE COMBINATION? IT IS LAWFUL FOR A BELIEVER TO TATTOO THE BODY? BUT MOST OF ALL: JUST THE CASE OF SCREAMING “TO SATANISM!” FOR A BODY TATTOO?

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Catholic Christianity knows a very clear theology of corporeality that does not find parallels in other religions or faiths. Marked by the baptismal seal, the physical body is immersed in the mystery of passion, death and resurrection of Jesus which is true the symbol that grace impresses on the soul. However, I want to recognize satanic elements in the tattoo, not only is it likely to be an exaggeration, but to reduce the question to a minimum, or perhaps worse in terms of closed banality, until you see evil everywhere, except not seeing it where it really is.

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Author
Ivano Liguori, Ofm. Capp.

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PDF print format article

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Jorge Facio Lynx
President of Editions The island of Patmos

For some time to the Fathers de The Island of Patmos they came both from young people and from parents, questions about tattoos imprinted on the body. Our Capuchin columnist took care to answer, Father Ivano Liguori, who is working on a short essay on this subject that will be published and distributed in our own shortly Editions The island of Patmos. Meanwhile, we offer you some advances.

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“Don't be afraid of tattoos. The Eritreans, already many years ago, they made the cross on their foreheads ".

Francis I.

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image of the Supreme Pontiff Francis tattooed on his arm

These are the words of the Holy Father [1] in response to a question from a young seminarian from Lviv, Yulian Vendzilovych, which posed the problem of the current pastoral challenges of the Church within the universe and the world of youth.

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One of the issues addressed, in that interview it's the tattoo, now become the status symbol more common than young people Post-Millennials [2] who thus emulate their favorites from the world of sport and music, far more than was the case with the generation of their fathers.

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tattoo on arm: crucifixion on Calvary surmounted by two hands holding a rosary crown

It is certainly not a trivial question the one submitted by the seminarian to the Pope, much less does the argument appear superficial as it might be considered at first sight. On the contrary, such a provocation can certainly favor a sincere and enlightening dialogue on the status of the problem of the boundless world of tattooing and tattooing.

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It's not just the youth world who wants to get tattooed, according to a certain estimate they would be about 20 millions of people around the world want to have a tattoo [3]. Among the Italians - according to data from the National Institute of Health [ISS [4]] updated to 17 October 2019 and disseminated by the Epicentro site - il 12,8% of the population has at least one tattoo, percentage that rises to 13,2% if we also consider the ex-tattooed.

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The people of the tattooed includes all age groups: teenagers, young people and adults of both sexes and belonging to the most disparate social and religious contexts.

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Saint Pio of Pietrelcina tattooed on a shoulder

Although this topic seems in some ways niche - so much so as not to interest the hottest fashion or costume tabloids - relegating the entire field to specialized magazines, the story is not without its charm, disputes and prejudices, together with those hasty analyzes that suffer from simplistic and often misplaced generalizations. All things from a Christian faith point of view, they demand a clear explanation, adequate and satisfactory to avoid the risk of becoming an impediment to a free and liberating faith.

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The tattoo issue, placed in such terms, may allow us to reformulate the seminarian's question to the Pope so as to recall an echo in that ethical question that the rich young man addressed to Jesus [cf. MC 10,17]: “Perhaps we future priests may not even be interested in tattoos. But since our peers who attend the church, who are baptized as we show it off, a clarification is required: it is good for a Christian to have them?”.

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Santa Rosalia patroness of Palermo tattooed on a calf

The question, as I took the liberty of rephrasing, it is obviously of a moral nature and the answer must be sought in that eternal good that is also hidden within areas of shadow and human frailty. Intimate and daring places where only God can work and where a good spiritual director can put his hand to it. Let's clear the field of any misunderstanding: it is not the tattoo as an entity in itself that is the subject of dispute but the fundamental option that pushes these body decorations to be made within a discourse of human physicality that is already perfectly harmonious because it reflects the work of God the creator.

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Indeed, if Isaiah can speak for the Lord testifying how Yahweh knows man so intimately that he uses the image "I drew you on the palms of my hands" [Is 49,16], that goal seems to be accomplished that identifies the body as a place of writing in which "the skin is a surface on which it is possible to write one's own story" [5], also the one with God and that others can read.

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tattoo of the Cross of St. Benedict of Nursia with the dove depicting the Holy Spirit

As happened in the story of the illness of the young Ségolène affected by sclerosis started on the left arm:

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"Man needs symbols, I needed a symbol, of a physical sign, visible, of Christ near me. When my arm isn't working properly, this cross gives me the hope and strength to move forward in life, despite everything " [6].

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I challenge anyone to judge a sick young woman for his hopeful choice that, acceptable or not, it challenges us precisely in that field which is witness and martyrdom in which so many men and women find themselves living, Christians of our time.

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That's why the questions about the tattoo made on a Christian question the baptismal choice which is also totalizing of an already redeemed human physicality. So these are the unspoken doubts to the question put by the seminarian to the Pope: the tattoo brings me closer or away from Christ? It brings me closer or distances me from the ecclesial community? These are the questions to be resolved, without being afraid to go looking for the answers.

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image of the passion of Christ crowned with thorns tattooed on a back

We already know from history than Orthodox Christians, Armenia, baked [7], Eritreans practiced the tattoo as a sign of testimony of faith, of participation in the sufferings of Christ and as certification of a pilgrimage [8] happened in the holy places.

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Who claims that the tattoo theme is just a legacy of stereotypes of past civilizations, of criminal environments bordering on legality or of a religious world whose guidelines are represented by the simple dualism allowed / forbidden or innocence / sin, would make an embezzlement in the area of ​​intellectual honesty. The tattoo can also be all of this, but it certainly is much more. This world is very vast, so much so that we cannot expect an immediately univocal reading of the problem. It is necessary to define the areas of study, create links, chasing temporal connections, understand the symbols, the archetypes and the subculture of the ancient world that determined the birthplace of tattooing and its practice.

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On one thing, however, it is better to agree with Pope Francis: the Christian must not fear anything, much less the tattoo. Because it is Christ who commanded his disciples not to fear [cf. Mt 10,31; 10,28; 14,27; MC 4, 40 GV 6, 20 To 18, 9] and the Church never generates fearful and fearful children from her womb.

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Archangel Michael tattoo on one arm

The following study seeks to dwell on history and tattoo culture as well as necessary introductory argument, then going to analyze some aspects concerning the moral and religious legitimacy of the pictorial mark on the skin in the light of the Magisterium of the Church. Some particular themes will conclude the study, like the relationship between faith and tattoos and the debate, still open, among exorcist priests about a certain demonic influence of the tattoo and its spiritual effects. The conclusions of the study will seek to combine theological perspectives with pastoral guidelines. In this sense, I tend to clarify any possible perplexities right away. These pages cannot and should not be taken as a kind of Christian apology for tattooing. Expenses, after reading them, wanted to support such a thesis would be manifestly in bad faith and misleading.

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As a Catholic priest and theologian, But, I have a duty to investigate on the theological level even those questions that are found over the line, in those no-man's lands where it is easy to get lost or chase mirages, however tempting, only inconsistent evidence remains.

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chest tattoo with Jesus Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary

Catholic Christianity he knows a very clear theology of corporeality that does not find parallels in other religions or faiths. Marked by the baptismal seal, the physical body, he is immersed in the mystery of passion, death and resurrection of Jesus which is true the symbol that grace impresses on the soul. An indelible identity seal - sfraghis - who as belonging to God identifies us in the Holy Spirit as beloved children (cf. MC 1,11). Understand this, already from its first developments and implications, it helps the discernment of the person who also comes to give up the charm of having a tattooed sign that, however beautiful and artistically valid, it always remains transitory and the work of human hands. However, I want to recognize satanic elements in the tattoo, not only is it likely to be an exaggeration, but to reduce the question to a minimum, or perhaps worse in terms of closed banality, until you see evil everywhere, except not seeing it where it really is.

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Laconi, 15 September 2020

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NOTE

[1] CF. HTTPS://www.agensir.it/quotidiano/2018/3/19/papa-francesco-ai-giovani-non-spaventarsi-dei-tatuaggi/

^[2] With this label we refer to that generation of young people born after that of the Millennials (1980-1995), therefore from 1996 on.

^[3] CF. Francesco Bungaro, Piercings and tattoos: the body readjusted. In Studia Bioethica - vol. 3 (2010) n ° 3 pp. 39-49.

^[4] CF. HTTPS://www.epicentro.iss.it/tatuaggi/aggiornamenti

[5] CF. B. Andrieu - C. Children, "The Decorated Body" in Mind and Brain, 37 (January 2008).

[6] HTTPS://it.aleteia.org/2019/02/28/tatuaggi-copti-wassim-razzouk/

[7] CF. HTTPS://it.aleteia.org/2019/02/28/tatuaggi-copti-wassim-razzouk/

[8] CF. https://www.tatuaggistyle.it/razzouk/8752

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