Contacts & Publisher

Subscription Form

Home  / News & Publications /  Michigan Catholic News / 2008 /  'Meritorious' service

by Joe Kohn of The Michigan Catholic
Published July 18, 2008

Ronald Mysiwiec

Southgate — When Ronald Thaddeus Mysliwiec, a well-loved teacher and choir director at St. Christopher Parish in Detroit, suffered from pancreatic cancer in 2006, he received some advice from his brother, Joseph.

"Ron's line to me was always, 'Joe, I'm going to live until I die,'" recalled Joseph Mysliwiec, who with his wife, Mary Pat, cared for Ronald at the time. "When we got the diagnosis, I said to him, 'Ron, you're going to live until you die.'"

Ronald, who never married, died of the cancer at age 62 in December 2006. And he was buried at Our Lady of Hope Cemetery  in June.

Photo courtesy of Joseph Mysliwiec Ronald Mysliwiec leads the choir at St. Christopher Church in Detroit during a liturgy in May 1999 to mark his retirement from music ministry. Mysliwiec, who died in December 2006, had his body used for medical research, and was buried late this June.

But what happened in the 18 months between his death and his burial could mean longer and better lives for others — and is something the Church deems "meritorious." He donated his body for medical research via the Wayne State University Body Bequest program.

The "Catechism of the Catholic Church" holds that "organ donation after death is a noble and meritorious act and is to be encouraged as an expression of generous solidarity (CCC2296)." Church teaching is no different when it comes to donation of a body, or parts of the body, to medical research instead of directly to an individual recipient, says Peter Cataldo, Ph.D., an ethicist with the Philidelphia-based National Catholic Bioethics Center.

"The moral principals that this section (of the Catechism) is based on apply to the donation of the body to medical science," says Cataldo. "The Church teaching on the donation of organs generally is that, so long as certain moral obligations are met, the donation — either the living donation or cadaveric donation — is a charitable and indeed noble act. It's to make such sacrifice for the good of another."

Cataldo adds that section 2301 of the Catechism states, "The free gift of organs after death is legitimate and can be meritorious."

Across the country, various programs exist by which people can donate their organs or entire bodies to universities or research centers. The bodies can be used for study by medical students, or for researched by established medical scientists. Harvard University and a handful of other institutions will even receive the donation of human brains in order to seek cures to psychological illnesses.

For some, the matter of organ donations is deeply personal. For Dr. Thomas Coles, a retired medical administrator and a member of St. Paul on the Lake Parish in Grosse Pointe Farms, educating others about living brain donations has become a mission.

His son has suffered from schizophrenia, a severe mental disorder, for three decades. The disease has limited effective treatments, and can include emotional and intellectual deterioration, disorganized speech and behavior, delusions, and even hallucinations.

"We need better medicines for mental illnesses," says Dr. Coles. "It's a major problem. Our son has been ill for 31 years. There are no good illnesses, but mental illnesses can last a long time. They devastate a person's life." In 2001, when Dr. Coles' mother died at the age of 91, her brain was donated to the Harvard Brain Tissue Resource Center, which is located in McLean Hospital in Belmont, Mass. Unlike most other organs, brain donations need to be made immediately upon death in order to preserve the brain's chemicals, protein, and DNA for effective analysis.

The Harvard Brain Bank, as it's often called, each year receives hundreds of brains, which are used to test treatments for mental illnesses from Alzheimer's disease to Parkinson's sisease to schizophrenia. And while it promises no quick fixes to mental illnesses, Dr. Coles says that in the long run, this is the way progress is made when it comes to treating diseases.

"It's probably not going to affect my son's life," he says. "But it might affect my grandchildren's lives, or their children's lives, or the general public."

Dr. Coles noted that, over the last 30 years, medical science has made great progress in treatment of mental illnesses — but it has a long way to go yet.

Joe Kohn | The Michigan Catholic Fr. Mark Scheffler, CSSR, leads a prayer service before the burial of the cremated remains of Ronald Mysliwiec, a choir director and educator from St. Christopher Parish in Detroit. Mysliwiec died in late 2006, but was buried just last month because his body was donated for medical research.

Catholics are encouraged to donate their organs or bodies —either to research or for recipients — so long as it's done in the proper way, Cataldo says. For example, the donor or the donor's family must have been fully informed and consented to the process. A proper determination of death must have been made. Also, in the case of medical research, proper treatment of the body must be ensured once the treatment is complete.

"It's because of the essential connection between body and soul, and the essential contribution that the body makes to human existence, that it is afforded such high respect, even after death," Cataldo says. "Showing respect for human remains helps to increase the respect that we have generally of living human persons."

In the case of Ronald Mysliwiec, the Wayne State University Anatomy Department returned the cremated remains of his body to the Mysliwiec family, as is often done with the bodies. The cremated remains of bodies donated to medical science also are often buried in common graves — with consent of the family.

Joseph Mysliwiec said he was pleased with the way Wayne State University handled the body donation.

"They really have the utmost respect for the corpse," he said.

Joe Kohn | The Michigan Catholic The Mysliwiec family and friends gather around the cremated remains of Ronald Mysliwiec, who donated his body for medical research. Mysliwiec died in December 2006 and was buried in June 2008.

When family members and friends gathered at Our Lady of Hope Cemetery on June 30 to say their final farewell as Ronald's ashes were buried, they had one more chance to reflect on the life of the man who gave them so much love.

"He was a great guy," Joseph said. "He had an influence on hundreds of people's lives."

And because of his decision to have his body used in medical research, he did even more to influence people's well-being, even after his last breath.