Vatican Cautions Catholics On The Danger of Cosmetic Surgery

The Vatican has cautioned the 1.4 billion Catholics across the world on the dangers of cosmetic surgery.

The warning came via a document from the International Theological Commission, and approved by Pope Leo XIV, which noted that cosmetic surgery can lead to a ‘cult of the body’.

According to Catholic Church teachings, ‘cult of the body’ refers to an idolatrous tendency in modern culture that places excessive, absolute value on physical appearance, fitness, and youthfulness.

The Church warns that this mindset reduces the human person to mere biological material to be engineered or perfected, rather than a unity of body and soul created in the image of God.

“Advances in cosmetic surgery,” the document says, “offers tools that significantly change the relationship with one’s corporeality.”

The Church teaches that the human body is made in the image of God. While the Church does not prohibit cosmetic surgery, it states that Catholics should not pursue cosmetic procedures merely to suit their vanity.

The International Theological Commission, which advises the Pope on doctrinal questions facing the Church, also warned against a future where artificial intelligence (AI) “risks escaping the control of human reason” and where humans might choose to have mechanical implants to become akin to ‘cyborgs’.

Cosmetic surgery can lead to an attitude of changing your body “according to the tastes of the moment,” warned the text.