nose piercings .

[Julianne]

I have a friend and she wanted to get a nose ring and I just wanted to ask what the church teaching is in regards to body piercings, in particular nose piercings and also IF this is not acceptable are ear piercings accepted
Thankyou :)

[Stephen Spiteri]

The Church has no official position on things like body piercings, tattoos, etc., as these are matters of prudence; they are certainly not prohibited by the Church but some may argue they they are intrinsically immoral in light of what is presented to us in scripture (Leviticus 19:28; 1 Corinthians 6:20). Some would argue that such a piercing as the one your friend is thinking about getting would constitute as bodily mutilation, and the Church does have a strong position on that (Catechism of the Catholic Church, par. 2296-2297):


2296 It is morally inadmissible directly to bring about the disabling mutilation or death of a human being, even in order to delay the death of other persons.

2297 Except when performed for strictly therapeutic medical reasons, directly intended amputations, mutilations, and sterilizations performed on innocent persons are against the moral law.

Mutilation, however, involves a deliberate [unwarranted] action that impairs or irrevocably alters a function of the body, e.g. plucking out an eye, cutting off your own hand, stitching lips together, etc.

The Church would simply expect that one would save their body from any unnecessary harm and not do anything that would be deemed as unhealthy or damaging to your physical well being.

[DavidObeid]

As a husband and a father, I'd also add that anyone who really loved a girl wouldn't want to see her "ruined" with bits of steel poking out of her face. It's like someone saying that wanted to improve the Mona Lisa by urinating on it.