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CURRENT
ISSUE: January 23, 2006
VOL.
44, NO. 2Oakland,
CA
Love is focus of Pope Benedict’s first encyclical
VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI is expected to
delve into the nature of unconditional and erotic love with his first
encyclical, the most authoritative form of papal writing, expected to
be released this week.
The 50-page document entitled “Deus Caritas Est,” Latin for
“God Is Love,” could set the tone of Benedict’s young
papacy. Italian media reports say it will warn Catholics not to disassociate
their feelings of erotic love from their understanding of unconditional
love.
“I know that it’s going to be on love, on the different types
of love,” Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington said, speaking
on the sidelines of an academic conference held in Rome.
According to the Italian news agency ANSA the encyclical draws upon the
ancient Greek concept of love known as “agape,” or spiritual
love, and “eros,” erotic love.
Benedict notes that marriages that base themselves solely on “eros”
risk being “degraded to pure sex,” turning love into a form
of “merchandise ... that can be bought and sold.”
“A marriage based on an exclusive love becomes a representation
of God with his people and vice versa,” Benedict reportedly writes.
“Deus Caritas Est,” which takes its name from the first letter
of St. John the evangelist, is also expected to address the need for Catholic
charity in the world.
ANSA reported that former San Francisco Archbishop William Levada, Benedict’s
successor at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, will present
the encyclical.
Cardinal McCarrick said he expects the encyclical to demonstrate that
Benedict is both “a true successor of John Paul II and his own man.”
John Paul wrote 14 encyclicals on themes ranging from Church doctrine
to workers’ rights and geopolitics. Benedict has said he intends
to focus his efforts on buttressing John Paul’s legacy.
Pope Benedict XVI makes a blessing at the end of his weekly general audience at the Vatican January 18, 2006.
REUTERS/Chris Helgren
