Catholic World News News Feature

Canadian bishops question "Body Worlds" exhibit May 27, 2008

Two Catholic prelates in Edmonton, Alberta, have joined in a public statement of concern about the "Body Worlds" exhibit of human cadavers.

Edmonton's Archbishop Richard Smith and Bishop David Motiuk, the leader of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Edmonton, reminded the faithful: "The human body retains its dignity even in death."

The two Catholic bishops questioned the prudence of the exhibition in which human cadavers are exposed, with skin pulled back to reveal muscles, tendons, and internal organs. "These are bodies of people," they pointed out, calling for proper appreciation of human dignity.

The bishops' statement did not condemn the "Body Worlds" exhibit, but insisted that the human body should not be "objectified," nor "gawked at as an object of curiosity."