but speaking of the wisdom of wikipedia:

[arethinn]

"[Pope John Paul II] taught that by understanding God's plan for physical love we could understand "the meaning of the whole of existence, the meaning of life."[62] "The body, and it alone, is capable of making visible what is invisible: the spiritual and divine. It was created to transfer into the visible reality of the world the mystery hidden since time immemorial in God, and thus to be a sign of it."[57]" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholic_Church#Sexuality)

Of course, this is talking about sex only within marriage. But still. Like, whoa, dude.

Comments

[skatche.livejournal.com]

Is it problematic that the people supposed to be defining the sexual component of spirituality for the masses are in fact not having any sex?

[arethinn]

No one ever said Catholicism was free of contradictions. ;)

[primordial-soup.livejournal.com]

If you are interested in surprising comments from a pope, you've absolutely hit the right one. Pope John Paul II was a very liberal pope (as popes go). He was actually reprimanded in seminary for studying Kabbalah and much of his treatises on physicality (sex and the world around us) is really influenced by those studies.

Even after I left the Catholic Church (some 16 years ago), I always had a special secret place in my heart for John Paul. Shhh...don't tell anyone though. It's embarassing.

[happydog.livejournal.com]

They come so close, and then they miss it by so much.