Vatican warns against cosmetic surgery’s ‘cult of the body’

Pope Leo XIV holds his weekly general audience in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

VATICAN CITY -- Jesus will still love you as you age, even if you have a few wrinkles on your face, according to a Vatican document issued on Wednesday.

In a new text approved by Pope Leo, a top Vatican commission warned the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics against using cosmetic surgery, saying it can lead to a “cult of the body” and an unrealistic search for a perfect figure.

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

“A widespread ‘cult of the body’ follows, tending toward a frantic search for a perfect figure, always fit, young, and beautiful.”

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

The new warning came in a document from the Vatican’s International Theological Commission, which advises the pope on doctrinal questions facing the Church.

The commission warned against cosmetic surgery as part of a long reflection on procedures using technology to advance humanity.

It also warned against a future where artificial intelligence “risks escaping the control of human reason” and where humans might choose to have mechanical implants in order to become akin to “cyborgs.”

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

“A curious situation arises: the ideal body is exalted ... while the real body is not truly loved, since it is a source of limits, fatigue, aging,” it said.

(Reporting by Joshua McElwee; Editing by Alvise Armellini, Aidan Lewis)