Posted on 09/10/2015 3:32:00 PM PDT by NYer
Some mistakes can be erased with Confession and Reconciliation. Others require a laser. That’s the thinking behind a popular program sponsored by the Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Monterey, Calif., in which retired and off-duty physicians volunteer their time to remove tattoos from people who feel their ink is holding them back from putting past mistakes behind them.
Laser tattoo removal usually costs hundreds of dollars a session, but Catholic Charities offers laser treatments for $20 or less to people who go the extra mile to prove that transforming their physical appearance is just the first step in transforming their lives.
Anyone wanting to access the program has to submit a letter in writing explaining why they want their ink removed, sit for an in-person interview, and perform 20 hours of community service as evidence of their desire to change their lives in a positive way. Most cite difficulty in getting legitimate work or a yearning to be a better example to their children as key reasons why they want to get rid of their tattoos. Others say the memories the tattoos bring up are too painful to allow them to move on.
“We’re not really talking about decorative tattoos,” said program director Maria Runciman, in a press release explaining the program. “We see former prostitutes who were branded by their pimps with tattoos, people who were in abusive relationships and want the names of their abusers removed. Some people are embarrassed about their gang tattoos and don’t want their kids to see them. Some want to go into the military or get a job and need that swastika or swear word removed.”
The program was started in 1993 by a single doctor at Dominican Hospital with help from the local Knights of Malta. Today, it serves about 300 people every year, thanks to a staff of volunteer doctors and contributions from the Catholic community on California’s Central Coast – especially Catholic Charities, which stepped in to take over operations and save the program two years ago when Dominican Hospital closed down the rehabilitation center where the program had previously been housed.
I would re-start my money to them IF I knew it would go for THIS!!
Is that Michelle O. in that tatoo?
Ahhhh.... there you are with a small “c” in Catholic!! Which proves you are NOT a Catholic.....but thanks for getting on EVERY “Catholic” thread!!
You couldn’t remember your pilgrimage to ROME without a TATTOO reminding you?? Please......go see Catholic Charities...ASAP!! Rome is SPECTACULAR!!!!!
It looks like there is not much hope for that one. 😂
I was in a similar situation. I researched having a ‘medic-alert’ equivalent tattoo. I was told that while medics check for a bracelet or necklace, they don’t check for tattoos.
So I did not do it. And now I do not need the ‘medic alert’ necklace. So that’s very good.
I guess I’m more referring to the donald duck or strand of barbed wire tattoos dad got while vacationing in Hawaii, or the butterfly mom got to match her daughter’s Zelda tattoo.
A guy at the local drive-thru food place had bible verses tattooed all over his arms. I asked if he had Leviticus 19:28. He just shut the window.
Read where Iraqi men (I think) were getting some tats so their various body parts could be identified if they were victims of a bomb attack.
This is quite a good idea.
A friend is a metal fabricator, and builds and drives dragsters. So, he cannot wear jewelry. He got his wedding ring tattooed on. That made sense to me.
I agree. Why deface your body?
Please show me the Church teachings against tattoos.
Interesting lampshades you have there, Father...
Christians aren’t bound by the Ceremonial Laws of Israel, unless a Ceremonial Law intersects with a moral law. I don’t think the (Catholic) Church holds that tattoos are against moral law.
You don’t DEFACE GOD’s TEMPLE, which is your body!!! You must be TATTED!!
Don’t get it! WHAT?????
Candidates for tatoo removal:
1. the former Lutheran minister who converted to Catholicism wants his tatoo of Martin Luther removed from his arm.
2. the former lady of the evening who became a Catholic religious decides that ‘the happy hooker’ tat is not appropriate to her new calling.
I’ve never gotten or was interested in getting a tatoo.
Phooey. You challenged me there. I would have swirn I’d read that some years ago not seeing it
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