Free electronic book with the catechesis of the theology of the body of San Juan Paul II

Opus Dei has launched a Free electronic book which brings together the 129 catechesis that San Juan Paul II pronounced on the theology of the body, a cycle of teachings that many consider a revolution in the way of understanding the human being and their vocation to love.

The Polish Pope announced this deep reflection between 1979 and 1984 from the biblical account of the creation of men and women, addressing essential questions: What does it mean that we are sexed beings? How does this relate to the eternal plan of God? What does it have to do with the happiness we are called?

A new anthropology: sexuality as a key to vocation to love

In one Interview with Opus Deithe Spanish theologian Juan José Pérez-Santa-expressed in theology of the body and translator of the first Spanish edition of the catechesis-said that “John Paul II proposed a new anthropology.”

“In these catechesis there is an identity element: sexuality, not as something secondary, but as something internal, essential, that has to do with the vocation to love. Behind this there is a new way of understanding man. What the Pope highlights is the need for man to find himself to be able to respond to his own vocation,” said Pérez-Soba, a professor at the Pontifical Lateran University and the Pontifical Theological Institute John Paul.

“That he has created man and woman does not imply that God be sexed, but, through sexuality, man can learn to love, and that learning is what allows him to understand God,” he continued.

Paternity, chastity and fullness: keys to understanding the Pope’s proposal

The expert recalled that for San Juan Paul II one of the great crisis of contemporary man “is that he has lost his identity.” He warned that “the current rejection of paternity as if it were something oppressive is a problem that generates an internal weakness.”

Far from a moralizing or restrictive vision, John Paul II understood sexuality as a good. “Define chastity not as repression, but as fullness of love,” says the theologian. “Morality is not limitation, but a path of fullness. It has nothing to do with someone who tells me what I should do, but to respond to my own identity.”

This approach, deeply Christian, opposes both puritanism and relativism. “Holiness is not for superhombres, but for those who let God act in his life,” he adds.

Catechesis are not directed only to married. “They talk about the vocation to love, which can also be lived in virginity or celibacy,” says Pérez-Soba. At the same time, they claim the greatness of marriage as a true Christian vocation: “Today there is more naturalness of marriage as a vocation, but 100 years ago it was something strange.”

With this new digital edition, an opportunity is offered to rediscover these teachings for both young people and marriages, for religious and laity.

Free download of the electronic book in different formats:

ePub: “Catechesis on the theology of the body of San Juan Paul II”

Mobi: “Catechesis on the theology of the body of San Juan Paul II”

PDF: “Catechesis on the theology of the body of San Juan Paul II”

Apple Books: “Catechesis on the theology of the body of San Juan Paul II”

Google Play Books: “Catechesis on the theology of the body of San Juan Paul II”