I STARTED reading Deus Caritas Est expecting to be disappointed, chastised and generally laid low. An encyclical on love from a right-wing pope could only contain more damning condemnations of our materialistic, westernised society, more evocations of the “intrinsic evil” of contraception, married priests, homosexuality. It would surely continue the Church’s grand tradition of contempt for the erotic, a tradition that ensures a guilty hangover in any Roman Catholic who dares to indulge in lovemaking for any reason other than the primary one of reproduction. How wonderful it is to be proven wrong.

The first half of the encyclical, the part on eros written by the new Pope himself, is a startling revelation, almost akin to reading one of George’s Herbert’s poems on love and God, or C.S. Lewis’ The Four Loves. The language itself verges at times on the erotic.

The word “intrinsic” remains one of his favourites, but not as an appendage to evil. Instead, it becomes the “intrinsic link” between human and divine love, eros and agape. He acknowledges the power of the “apparently irresistible promise of happiness” between men and women when body and soul are “inseparably joined”.

Recognising that the Greek word eros does not appear at all in the New Testament and just twice in what he refers to as the “Greek Old Testament”, he quotes Nietzsche, who said that Christianity had poisoned eros. Here he repeats the widely held perception voiced there by Nietzsche, a fellow German: “Doesn’t the Church, with all her commandments and prohibitions, turn to bitterness the most precious thing in life?” Yes, he criticises the reduction of sex to a commodity and the consequent debasement of the human body. But then he indulges in some of the most beautiful and passionate writing I have ever seen in papal prose. He acknowledges his debt to Solomon’s Song of Songs, the book of the Bible with passages so explicit that few priests would have the courage to read them out in church without blushing.

Legitimate criticism will come from some feminist circles. Although it is biblical, some women will not be happy at being referred to as rib-made helpmeets. His analysis of the role of the Church in bringing God’s love to fruition is also likely to be provoke accusations of implicit replacement theology.

With its repeated reference to Greek myth and Latin learning, the encyclical is indicative of Benedict XVI’s formidable intelligence. But it also opens a new window into the soul of the Pope, showing a surprising depth of insight into what it means to love and be loved.

Every sentence, stop and comma speaks of orthodoxy. It is steeped in the tradition of the ancient Church. The Pope was former head of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, the body once known as the Inquisition. But this encyclical is not the work of an inquisitor. It is the work of a lover — a true lover of God.

www.timesonline.co.uk/faith

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