A chaplain's perspective on body donation and thanksgiving

Religious views on body donation

When seeking to find out the view/teaching of religious groups it is important to remember that there is likely to be an ‘official’ view from a governing or hierarchical authority, but because most world religions have a variety of groups/denominations within their structure there can often be a deviation from the ‘official’ teaching. For instance, with regard to organ and tissue donation the organization appointed within England to promote donation is NHS Blood and Transplant which in 2009 produced a leaflet titled Organ Donation and Religious Perspectives. The leaflet states: ‘All the major religions of the UK support the principles of organ donation and transplantation. However, within each religion there are different schools of thought, which mean that views may differ. All the major religions accept that organ donation is an individual choice’. The same would be true with regard to donating one's whole body to medical science.

In order to gain local opinion – across Brighton and Hove – some of the leaders of the Jewish and Muslim communities were contacted to seek their opinion. A Reform Rabbi informs his enquiring congregants that it is perfectly acceptable to donate one's body to medical science following the Rabbinic saying PIKUACH NEFESH K'NEGED KULAM, the translation of which reads: ‘the saving of a soul overrides all else’. It is, however, important that when the body is due for release by the anatomy school that the body be returned to the family – should they so wish – for Jewish rites of burial to be performed The view of Orthodox Jews will vary in this belief in that our bodies are not ours to do with as we wish and must be returned to the earth from which they came and this must happen as soon as possible so that the body may be at rest.

This view is certainly held by orthodox members of the Muslim faith who also believe that our bodies are given to us for a specific amount of time and should not be cut or harmed in any way and returned to the earth as soon as possible. However, in 1995 the Muslim Law (Shariah) Council UK made: A Juristic Ruling Regarding Organ Transplant, ¹ in which they gave permission for a person to donate their body: ‘A person has the legal authority over his own body, attested by the fact that he can hire himself for work, which might be difficult or exhausting. He may also volunteer for war, which may expose him to death’; therefore, ‘It is possible for a person to donate his body or parts of it to be used after death to treat those who need transplants’. ¹ This view is greatly debated among different groups. There are a variety of views, which will be justified depending upon the specific interpretation of sacred texts and rulings and therefore it will depend on which leader is asked and from which group.

Most of the Christian denominations and groupings approve of the principle of people donating their bodies to medical science as the body at death is flesh and blood which will decay while the soul travels forward into eternity. The major consideration within the Christian faith would be that donation is a matter of individual choice made with the acknowledgement and understanding of the next of kin and other relevant family and friends.

A person of faith who donates their body to medical science will have considered the teaching of their faith and will be making the donation as an act of their faith and not separate from it. They will be remembered for who they are, not just their act of donation.

Remembrance and thanksgiving of those who have died

Within each of the Abrahamic religions – Jewish, Christian and Muslim – provision is made, and in some groups/denominations required, for the remembrance and thanksgiving of those who have died. The purpose of such acts includes giving thanks for those who have died, praying for them that they may be at peace and asking them to pray for us. Remembrance takes different forms. In Islam the relationship with the deceased continues after death ‘…relationships continue, it is considered possible to assist the deceased in their further journeying. This honouring of the deceased is a value that many Muslims nurture from early childhood…’ ² In the prayer that Muslims are to recite when entering the graveyard they are to say: ‘We will whenever Allah wills, join you. I beg Allah salvation for us and for you’. ³ In Christianity the Catholic Church has long provided liturgies for remembering the deceased, mainly taking the form of masses to pray for the dead and their journey in purgatory towards paradise. Within the reformed Christian denominations, including the Church of England, praying and remembering the dead was not at first encouraged as the dead are beyond this world. However, in the 19th century prayers for remembering the dead were introduced by the Oxford Movement (the more ritualistic group of the Church of England) with much consternation from those who thought of this as superstitious and evil. Yet, as a result of various wars and conflicts in the 19th century culminating in the World War I, there was a great demand for the remembrance of the dead in both public and private devotion. These acts of remembrance were primarily expressed through the Christian churches and often in very public settings such as state occasions and the unveiling of war memorials.

For those who are not religious and do not believe that there is any form of life after death, there is also the recognition of the place and value of remembrance: ‘We know that throughout history…ceremonies have been used to mark important events in people's lives…The public expression and sharing of grief are generally considered an essential part of recovery after the death of someone close…’ ⁴ This comment in the Introduction to the British Humanist Association's book, Funerals without God, is applied to those who are religious as much as to those who are not. The purpose of an act of remembrance is not, however, to conduct another funeral: ‘Holding a memorial service at some time, months after the death and immediate obsequies, may be a way of bringing out the essential cheerfulness and spirit of life which most of us would like remembered’. ⁵ Conducting memorial services is part of the ritual and rites of remembrance for a large number of people as a way to give thanks for the person's life and in how they lived their life.

London anatomy office service of thanksgiving

The act of donating one's body to medical science is a sign of how the donor thought they could help other people's lives by helping medical students understand how the body functions. This act of donation is worthy of remembrance in order to give thanks for such an opportunity of learning by such an act of self-giving. The London Anatomy Office (LAO) is responsible for the donation process in the London and south-east area. The LAO asks those who donate their bodies whether or not (when the medical school in question has completed its use of the body within a 3-year period or an indefinite period of time) they want their body returned to their family for private funeral arrangements to be made or whether they want the LAO to arrange to cremate their body following a short funeral service at which there will be other short funeral services held at the same time. If the donor elects for the latter, then the family may or may not attend as they choose. This means that for some families there will not have been a funeral service to attend while other families may have held services at or around the time of death, but without the body present, as well as attend the funeral service organized through the LAO. Donors are asked if they wish their names to be remembered at a Service of Thanksgiving which is held once the body has been released back to the family or following the LAO-organized cremation service. If the donor wishes to have their name remembered, the family is invited to attend the service. While a service is held annually, names are only remembered at one service. Regardless of whether or not families have attended or conducted a funeral service, the service organized by the LAO is titled as a ‘Service of Thanksgiving’ in order to: ‘commemorate those who had donated their bodies for the benefit of medical education…’ ⁶

The service follows a simple formula of readings, prayers and music from mainly within the Christian tradition. This most probably reflects the faith, however committed, of most of those who donated or those who attend the service. The structure of the service provides for the opportunity of remembrance and thanksgiving as relatives are invited to bring along photographs of the donor, attendees are specifically invited to remember the donor through prayer and the names are printed in the Order of Service as well as displayed on lists for people to view. At the end of the service, chaplains working with the various medical schools who have benefited from those who have donated their bodies make themselves available to speak with the relatives attending. While the service is not another funeral service, acts of remembrance can engender strong emotions for many and some people can benefit from talking to someone before they leave to go home. Those who attend the service might be attending on their own and others might have a number of family and friends with them. The vast majority of people say that they have come to remember their loved one and to pay tribute for their act of donating their body. They are very proud to have known someone who was so thoughtful and caring towards those who need to learn and pass knowledge on to others.

Public and corporate acts of remembrance

‘Part of the genius of liturgy (public acts of worship) is its ability to hold in tension individual and corporate responses’. ⁷ This view of public acts of worship was set out in a book which – for some in the Church of England when it was published in 1985 – began a huge shift of how worship needs not only to be about worshipping God, but must relate to the lived experience of those who attend. This is precisely the task, and one that is achieved through the Service of Thanksgiving as well as more private but still corporate acts of remembrance conducted at medical schools in anatomy rooms and referred to elsewhere in this issue. Individuals come with their personal remembrances, whether religious or not, which are honoured and acknowledged by the wider community. The corporate act of remembrance bears witness and affirms the individual act of donation acknowledging that the decision to donate is not made alone, but in conversation and agreement with loved ones.

Anyone from a faith perspective, or not, who chooses of their own volition to donate their body to medical science is doing so because they genuinely believe that others will be helped and healed by medical students learning from the body of one human being and applying that knowledge to the healing of another. This is an act of great thoughtfulness on the part of the donor which relatives and loved ones as well as the members of the medical profession will want to remember and give thanks.