How does Pope John Paul IIs “theology of the body” contribute to marital happiness?
Monsignor Burke: Pope John Paul presents the body as an instrument of interpersonal communion, teaching that this is true only where the full human meaning of the body and interbody relationship is respected, which is not so in contraception. To deliberately nullify the life-orientation of the conjugal act is to destroy its essential power to signify union. Contraception denies the “language of the body.” It turns the marital act into self-deception, or into a mutual lie between the spouses themselves; for one is not really giving oneself, nor is one really accepting the other. Q: How does freedom play out in marriage? Monsignor Burke: Many today consider that to bind oneself in an irrevocable choice amounts to losing one’s freedom. Not so. To marry is to commit oneself to a constant loving exercise of freedom. What sort of love is it that prefers to leave the “way out” always open? The person truly in love is not afraid of losing his or her freedom, but of losing his or her love. It i
