JPII; Sistine Chapel and TOB

I've been pretty lax about blogging lately as lots has been going on. Just so you all know I still have a pulse I'll post a section of something I was reading the other day that I found very interesting. JPII's words on the Sistine Chapel as they relate to TOB is surely a topic I could write about later but for now I'd like to share this excerpt, taken from this article:

Theology of the Body, written by Fr. Robert Streveler


Back in the 1990’s the beautiful Sistine Chapel (next to the Basilica of St. Peter’s in the Vatican) was restored. During the restoration Pope John Paul ordered the removal of several loincloths that previous popes had ordered to be placed over Michelangelo’s original work. During the homily rededicating the restored frescoes, Pope John Paul proclaimed the Sistine Chapel “the sanctuary of the theology of the human body.” In speaking about the difference between pornography and a proper portrayal of the human body, the pope spoke about how the pornographer seeks only to arouse lust while the true artist helps us see the whole personal mystery of man.

Some people responded to this idea by saying the naked body will always arouse lust in the heart of man. The pope responded with this beautiful declaration of redemption, “Of which man are we speaking? Of man dominated by lust or man redeemed by Christ? This is what is at stake: the reality of Christ’s redemption. Christ has redeemed us! This means he has given us the possibility of realizing the entire truth of our being; he has set our freedom from the domination of lust”. The pope says elsewhere, “Deep in the heart we learn to distinguish between what, on the one hand, composes the great riches of sexuality and sexual attraction, and what on the other hand, bears only the sign of lust.”