Today is the Feast of Pope Saint John Paul II (1920 – 2005). Happy feast day! Pope John Paul’s “Theology of the Body” is a compendium of papal teaching emanating from a series of 129 lectures delivered by the late pontiff during his Wednesday audiences at the Vatican between September 1979 and November 1984.
The teachings provide an integrated vision of the human person focused upon the revelation of God's mystery and plan for human life in and through the human body. In many ways, they act as a Christian corrective to the disharmonious and destructive “sexual revolution” of prior decades.
Over the past two years, Pope Saint John Paul’s Theology of the Body has been introduced to the curriculum within schools across the Diocese of Lansing. Why? The diocesan Associate Superintendent at the Office of Catholic Schools, Sarah Salow, now explains:
Pope Saint John Paul II’s Theology of the Body is often seen as a complexly beautiful document instructing the faithful on their relationship with God and others. Since its focus on Catholic anthropology honors God’s creation of this world and human beings on purpose, and out of love, it reveals that the students, teachers, and families in our schools exist in this time and place for a specific reason as ordained by God. Therefore, this knowledge must become the foundation of all other learning within our school communities.
Gravissimum Educationis, a declaration on Christian education that was promulgated by Pope Saint Paul VI on October 28, 1965 notes "the Church is bound as a mother to give to these children of hers an education by which their whole life can be imbued with the spirit of Christ."
With this in mind, in the spring of 2022 and on the verge of renewing all 36 Diocese of Lansing schools in the Catholic intellectual tradition, the Office of Catholic Schools released a revised preK-8 theology curriculum framework. This document shapes instruction in spiritual encounter and growth in theological knowledge, while resulting in Spirit-driven witness. Its content includes "a strong reliance on the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Sacred Scriptures, the Liturgical Prayers of the Church, and the work of Pope Saint John Paul II in his Theology of the Body" and ultimately notes the Theology of the Body as "imbued" throughout the entire framework as a development of the wisdom of the Church and a reality that informs every teaching of the Church.
Per Pope Saint Paul VI’s instruction, it is through the work of Pope Saint John Paul II that our Catholic schools seek to shed light on the human experience as a whole and provide students with the ability to recognize not only where we came from, but also where we are going. This insight fuels the work of both education and renewal across all diocesan schools and allows us to speak the truth of our creation to all who enter our communities and, Lord willing, to all who encounter those who learn within them.
Praise God for the life and work of Pope Saint John Paul II!