Catholics can visit the upcoming exhibition of human bodies at the Carnegie Science Center without moral qualms, the Diocese of Pittsburgh said yesterday.

"Bodies . . . The Exhibition can provide worthwhile and effective opportunities to promote learning and to explore issues in the natural sciences, morality and spirituality," the statement said.

It cautioned that the exhibit "is certainly not appropriate for all audiences" and urged people to consider their own sensitivities and those of their children before choosing to attend. But, it continued, "The discussion generated in the public arena in anticipation of this exhibit is a valuable one that has raised serious questions about the dignity of the human person and how that dignity is expressed, protected and promoted."

The exhibit, scheduled from Oct. 8 through April, consists of cadavers, preserved in a process called plastination. The exhibit includes cadavers are posed in lifelike positions and fetuses in various stages of development. Premier Exhibitions, which created it, said it obtained the bodies from the Dalian Medical University in China.

As the exhibit has traveled the country some religious and human rights advocates raised concerns about whether the bodies came from executed political prisoners or from abortions.

In June a Carnegie Science Center employee, Elaine Catz, resigned due to ethical objections to the exhibit. Nationally, strong objections have come from members of the persecuted Falun Gong sect, who say that the Chinese government uses living political prisoners as unwilling organ donors. Opponents of abortion have raised concerns about the fetuses because the Chinese government has been known to force women to have abortions.

However, Susan Rauscher, secretary for social concerns of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, said her office found no record that any diocese had officially objected to the exhibition. The closest instance was a personal commentary in Seattle's archdiocesan newspaper.

It was the Carnegie Science Center that first contacted the diocese last year, asking if Ms. Rauscher's office would participate in public forums about the exhibit. That is still under discussion, she said.

As a result, her office spent months looking into the exhibit's background, she said.

The church supports the donation of bodies for scientific and educational purposes, as long as they are treated with dignity and not displayed solely for entertainment or profit. They were satisfied that the exhibit was educational and that the science center was an appropriate non-profit venue.

The biggest concern was the human rights question, she said.

"The Carnegie Science Center supplied documentation and affidavits assuring that the bodies were of those who had died from natural causes and had been deceased and unclaimed for no less than four years," the statement said.

"In addition, the bodies will be returned to China at the proper time for cremation and burial. Finally, we were assured that the fetuses had died naturally in utero and were not the result of abortion."

The full statement is at www.diopitt.org.