M IN D & S OU L
WHAT IS “THEOLOGY OF THE BODY”? This article is the start of an extended series in which I will reflect on, explain, and apply Pope St. John Paul II’s “Theology of the Body” to contemporary issues. Have you heard of “Theology of the Body?” This term has gotten quite a bit of attention in Catholic circles in recent years, but many do not understand what it is or why it is relevant to them.
Carmelite spirituality, and the nature of love, marriage and morality. The context of his pursuits was the immense violence and social upheavals of the 20th Century, as well as the shifting of moral attitudes in light of the so-called sexual revolution.
As a newly ordained auxiliary bishop, and, later, Archbishop of Kraków, Wojtyła participated in all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). His POPE ST. JOHN PAUL II stature and reputation as an outspoken, It is impossible to understand TOB Reflecting on all courageous young bishop of immense without first reflecting on its originator, intellect grew to the point where he was he [Karol Wojtyla] Pope St. John Paul II. Born in Poland in appointed to the committee that drafted, 1920 as Karol Wojtyła, he lived through had learned and perhaps, the Council’s defining document, the horrors of Nazi oppression, World experienced, he penned the Pastoral Constitution on the Church War II, and the communist takeover of in the Modern World (Gaudium et a manuscript on the his beloved nation. He was no stranger to spes). Inspired by this experience, tragedy, as he lost his mother and older nature of the human Archbishop Wojtyła later became the brother in childhood, and his father at person, love, marriage only participating bishop to write an age 20. Wojtyła increasingly turned to entire book summarizing the teaching of and sexuality. God, the Blessed Mother and his Catholic the Council and giving guidelines for its faith. As a priest and, later, bishop, he implementation (Sources of Renewal). Not spent years ministering to the needs long after, Pope Paul VI named him a Cardinal. of the Polish people, listening to their fears and struggles, striving to understand their experiences and stirring up the THE NATURE OF THE HUMAN PERSON hope that comes from faith in Christ. In the 1970s, Cardinal Wojtyła began writing his magnum In addition to being a pastor, Wojtyła was a renowned scholar. opus before the Blessed Sacrament in his private chapel in In his various works as poet, playwright, philosopher and Kraków. Reflecting on all he had learned and experienced, theologian, he pondered the nature of the human person, he penned a manuscript on the nature of the human person, 3 4 | T H E C A THOLIC TELE GR A PH
