Kansas City Catholic schools advised not to take children to see 'Bodies'

Matt Campbell in the Kansas City Star: Local Catholic officials say the “Bodies Revealed” exhibit opening Friday at Union Station is not appropriate for church school field trips. The statement (.pdf) was issued by Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas and Bishop Robert W. Finn of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph. The officials’ position is the same as that taken recently by the archbishop of Cincinnati, where another exhibit showing preserved human bodies is under way. Cincinnati Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk called the exhibit “unseemly and inappropriate.” Cincinnati church leaders said the exhibit may have educational merit and the creators may be well-intentioned, but the use of the bodies does not respect the individuals involved. | Read more...

Related:

• In January, Pilarczyk told Cincinnati Catholic-school administrators, "It seems to me that the use of human bodies in this way fails to respect the persons involved. Therefore, I do not believe that this exhibit is an appropriate destination for field trips by our Catholic schools."
  
  
• In 2006, the Denver Museum of Natural History featured "Body Worlds 2," a different exhibit of plasticized bodies that was sponsored by a Catholic health care system. In a column in the archdiocesan newspaper, Archbishop Charles Chaput said the exhibit could be a Lenten meditation. "In every previous U.S. appearance of 'BodyWorlds 2,' 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." (It's important to note that the individuals in the Denver exhibit donated their bodies specifically for museum display.)

Photo from the "Bodies Revealed" exhibition