Catholic Tattoos
For I bear the marks of Jesus on my body.
Christians believe that baptism leaves an indelible mark on the soul. For some, tattoos can be an outward mark of that inward reality. According to the Pew Research Center, 36 percent of young Americans between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five have at least one tattoo. Some get tattoos as a sacramental, like a cross or a medal, that is permanent. In the West, many young Catholics have found that the crucifixes, rosaries, medals, icons, paintings, prayers, and saint attributes of Catholicism often translate well into tattoo art.
Catholics believe that the body is sacred and a temple of the Holy Spirit, as St. Thomas Aquinas wrote, “And so with the affection of charity with which we love God we should love our bodies too.” So a tattoo must not disrespect the human person or the human family in any way. Likewise, a tattoo should not be motivated by vanity, self-hatred, or pride. If you are considering a tattoo, make sure you get it from a safe and reputable tattoo parlor. A year or two is not too long to consider this, or any, lifelong commitment. Is getting a tattoo divinely motivated or simply the glorification of self? Make sure you consider both the image and its placement. Is the tattoo for you or for others? How visible should it be? Should it be in white or black ink? Is this a sign or a symbol you can live with as an employee, a spouse, a parent, a priest or religious?
Tattoos aren’t for everyone. Many find them beautiful, others dislike how they look, but the Catholic Church does not forbid them. In fact, the Catholic Council of Northumberland in 786 deemed a Christian bearing a tattoo “for the sake of God” worthy of praise. Some even see the pain associated with the tattoo, which can be intense, as a kind of spiritual exercise.
In Egypt, the practice of Christian tattoos goes back thousands of years. A persecuted minority under Muslim rule, many Coptic Christians would get a small tattoo of a cross on their inner wrist, forehead, or temple, despite the consequences. Some Coptic children were forced to convert to Islam. As a result, many Copts would tattoo their children, wanting to mark them with the sign of the cross, come what may. Coptic Christians still suffer tremendous persecution, but their willingness to be different has made them a dauntless minority. They remain the largest Christian community in the Middle East, and the practice of Christian tattooing remains widespread in rural Egypt.
Flannery O’Connor’s favorite short story of those she wrote is called “Parker’s Back.” In the story, O. E. Parker, a nonreligious and chronically dissatisfied man who is covered with meaningless tattoos, has a frightening experience: He is thrown from his tractor just before it crashes into a tree and bursts into flames. O’Connor writes, “If he had known how to cross himself he would have done it.” After this experience, Parker rushes into the city to get “God” tattooed on his back. As he flips through the pages of the religious tattoo art, he rejects the comforting images of “The Smiling Jesus” and the “Physician’s Friend” and instead chooses an image of a “Byzantine Christ with all demanding eyes.” When he goes home to his fundamentalist Christian wife to show her the tattoo, thinking she will be moved by the change in him, she instead accuses him of idolatry and beats him “until she had nearly knocked him senseless and large welts had formed on the face of the tattooed Christ.”
Many Christians still see the man with “God” tattooed on his back as a freak or an outcast, but perhaps this is in some way the goal. A follower of Christ ought to be a challenge to himself and others, someone difficult to classify, a stranger in a strange land. Someone who suffers, like O. E. Parker, who, at the end of “Parker’s Back” is cast out into the night alone “crying like a baby.” In one sense all Christians are O. E. Parker, claimed for the world by job titles, brand-name clothes, and other status symbols, and terrified of being claimed by God. For Parker and others like him, the religious tattoo is an outward sign of an inward conversion, and because of its permanence, a lifelong commitment.
There are many different types of Catholic tattoos. Some honor a beloved saint: an anchor for St. Clement of Rome, an ax for St. Thomas More, a heart for St. Teresa of Ávila, the tau cross of St. Francis. This attribute can be a reminder for those who wish to follow the way of the saint. One might also have a reproduction of a painting or icon of a saint turned into a tattoo.
TYPES OF CATHOLIC TATTOOS
Tattoos can also be a sign of devotion to Christ, a sign of God’s love, or a reminder to turn away from sin. Among the more common images are: a cross, a crucifix, a sacred heart, a line of Scripture, or a picture of Jesus.
Some get tattoos after celebrating the sacrament of marriage; for example, someone might get a tattoo of a spouse’s name in a heart. This permanent mark is a sign of a permanent commitment. The spousal tattoo might be followed by a tattoo of a child’s name, birthdate, or baptismal date, or a symbol associated with their child’s or children’s namesakes.
People who have overcome serious illnesses sometimes get tattoos as a sign of their endurance through the battle, or their gratitude to God. I know a young woman who was diagnosed with cancer when she was twenty-seven years old and thirty-two weeks pregnant. She prayed to the Holy Spirit during her time of trial and experienced incredible peace in the midst of her suffering. When she was declared cancer-free she got a tattoo of a white dove on her wrist as a reminder of the peace she found by “giving everything over to God.”
Still others get tattoos as a way of keeping a loved one’s memory alive. A Catholic hospice nurse I know prepared the body of a man who had died on her shift. She saw that he was covered with tattoos, each bearing a person’s name and the words “Rest in peace.” She said, “It made me glad to think that so many people were waiting for him.”
If you’re considering a tattoo, find a work of art and an artist whose work bears the weight of the mystery (this might mean traveling to another city or state). Then consult a spiritual advisor or trusted friend. Think and pray about it and take as much time as you need to feel certain that this is what you really want to do, and that this is not merely a passing interest. Too many people get tattoos that they later come to regret. Finally, frugality is a virtue, but not when it comes to tattoos. You get what you pay for, so save up for an artist whose work you admire.
Tattoos with religious themes remind us that the saints of today may look different from those of ages past. What remains the same is that the light of Christ shines through them all.