Archbishop of Sydney

His Eminence,
Cardinal George Pell
Cardinal Priest of the Title of S. Maria Domenica Mazzarello

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Home > Our Archbishop > Sunday Telegraph Column 2002 > Article	Printable Version

Christianity and the body

By + George Pell
ARCHBISHOP OF SYDNEY
3 March 2002

"Why is the Church so hung up about sex?" "The Church should stay out of the bedroom." How often do we hear comments like these? But whether people agree with the Church or not, we all intuitively know that sex is extremely important, more than entertainment.

For a start, none of us would exist without the sexual union of our parents. But the significance of our sexuality does not stop there.

Sex is not a comfortable topic for many people. In their discomfort with sexuality, people tend to go to one or other extreme; liberal abandon or conservative prudishness.

Sexuality is God's gift to be treasured and celebrated. An asexual Church is as unholy and unredeemed as a sex-mad society. But there is a way through both distortions to wholeness, integration and truth.

Pope John Paul II has pondered this issue, and his bold conclusions have surprised many people. His theology of the body was explained in a series of 129 talks given between September 1979 and November 1984.

The essential point is this: by reflecting on sexual difference, male and female, and the desire for union with the opposite sex, we discover the deepest reality of human identity and we even enter some way into the mystery of the trinitarian God.

The creation story in the Old Testament book of Genesis tells us that Adam and Eve were made for each other. At the core of their beings, man and woman experience a deep desire for unity. We are made to love and be loved.

Our masculinity and femininity draws us beyond ourselves to the other. This "made for the other" is apparent in the differences between men's and women's bodies. Neither makes sense by itself, but only in union with the other.

The original harmony between men and women was ruptured when Adam and Eve chose to disobey God. They mistrusted God's love and plan for them, and asserted their own will over his. But far from making them free, the result was to trap them in selfishness.

They no longer looked on each other as a reflection of God's image, but with lust and the self-centred desire to manipulate the other.

It is from the trap of selfishness that Jesus a God-made-flesh a promises to free us, and this freedom involves our sexuality.

The church views the sexual union of man and woman as sacred and sacramental. The church does not say "no" to practices such as pre-marital and extra-marital sex because it is against sex, but because it is radically for sex and the total, unreserved mutual self-giving it expresses in marriage.

Society's efforts to dodge or avoid the challenge of the Christian sexual ethic have often reaped tragic results and deep personal hurts. The theology of the body offers a fresh insight into who we are and helps us embrace the truth about sexuality.

Sexuality is a highly sensitive topic. John Paul II recognizes the universality of the human struggle. No person has sexuality perfectly worked out! Redemption is a journey. It takes time.

"Be not afraid!" says the Pope. The gospel, though strong and confronting, is not meant as a condemnation but as an invitation to discover anew the gift and freedom of our sexuality.