BEING CATHOLIC CATHOLIC BEING
The surprisingly positive Catholic view of sex and love by
Sister Gemma Simmonds, C.J. belongs to the Congregation of Jesus. She’s on the faculty of the Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology, Cambridge, U.K. as director of the Religious Life Institute.
120 | VISION 2022 | VocationNetwork.org
Sister Gemma Simmonds, C.J.
Sexual love is one dimension, one expression, of the love that is meant to be at the heart of our lives.
I
T MAY SEEM counterintuitive for a nun to be writing about love and sex. I certainly don’t claim to be an expert. But anyone who has tried to live the celibate life with integrity for most of their adult life has had to face struggles for sexual maturity. We are challenged to understand the interface between desire, love, the need for intimacy, and our culture’s attitude toward the human body. To help us
