Pope Benedict, First Encyclical, on Love

But in contrast to his public reputation, Benedict, 78, elected last April, began his encyclical with this premise:

Conceding that the church has at times viewed sexuality as something "negative," he placed erotic love between married men and women at the center of God's plan. Sex, he wrote, should mature into unselfish concern for the other — creating a love that ultimately demands charity and justice even to strangers.

"Love is indeed 'ecstasy,' " he wrote in a document that ran 71 pages in the English translation. "Not in the sense of a moment of intoxication, but rather as a journey, an ongoing exodus out of the closed inward-looking self towards its liberation through self-giving, and thus toward authentic self-discovery and indeed the discovery of God."

Amen. Alleluia. I have been teaching this insight for years and using it in all my wedding ceremonies. My doctoral dissertation at U. of Penna, 1967, was on Marital Intimacy. Thank you. I am surprised and impressed, Your Holiness.