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Towards a Theology of Suffering: the Contribution of Karol Wojtyla/Pope John Paul II”

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THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA “Towards a Theology of Suffering: The Contribution of Karol Wojtyla/Pope John Paul II” A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Faculty of the School of Theology and Religious Studies Of The Catholic University of America In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree Doctor of Sacred Theology Peter C. Harman Washington, D.C. 2010 “Towards a Theology of Suffering: The Contribution of Karol Wojtyla/Pope John Paul II” Reverend Peter C. Harman, S.T.D. Director: John S. Grabowski, Ph. D. Pope John Paul II’s 1984 Apostolic Letter Salvifici doloris shares a common anthropology with his “Theology of the Body” audiences delivered between 1979 and 1984. In them, drawing on his work in phenomenology as a professional philosopher, he discusses the revelatory potential of the human body. His method of inquiry into man’s self-understanding of his nature and the struggles he faces invites academic investigation of both issues of human sexuality and human suffering. Analogous to his description of man’s coming to understand a language of the body between spouses, there is also the potential for a communion of persons to be released in the experience of the mystery of human suffering by both the suffering person and the one who cares for him. This dissertation investigates the themes addressed in Wojtyla/John Paul’s teaching, particularly in the “Theology of the Body” with the purpose of synthesizing an anthropology found there in order to present an expanded theology of suffering as a much needed tool for a culture that often views the experience of suffering as only a negative one, something to be eliminated at all costs. Wojtyla/John Paul’s view will be shown to counteract this mindset, treating the experience of suffering, though an evil in itself, as uniquely affording the potential to release love and hope in the suffering person’s relationship with God and others, as well as the for those who care for him. Part I addresses the need for a better grounding of the issue of suffering in our current culture by evaluating the lack of discussion of this mystery in the realms of medical ethics, for even within Christian reflection the topic of suffering is often dismissed or eliminated rather than addressed as a revelatory part of human experience. Part II offers a brief synthesis of Wojtyla/John Paul’s philosophical and theological anthropology by analyzing foundational writings, such as The Acting Person and his first encyclicals, as well as his presentation of the Theology of the Body. It will do so by analyzing both the content and method of his catechesis and evaluating how this catechesis addresses particular needs of contemporary culture, especially issues which form a basis for the understanding of the revelatory nature of the body as pertains to suffering. Part III articulates, per John Paul’s request from the conclusion of the Theology of the Body catecheses, a more complete understanding of the role of suffering in Christian life. This section expands traditional views of the redemptive potential of suffering with John Paul’s own thoughts on how the promptings of the body of the suffering person afford an opportunity for both greater self-awareness and communion with others. Part IV offers conclusions and briefly considers the possibilities for further development of a theology of suffering. This dissertation by Peter C. Harman fulfills the dissertation requirement for the doctoral degree in Sacred Theology approved by John S. Grabowski, Ph. D., Associate Professor of Moral Theology, as Director, and by Brian Johnstone, S.T.D., Ph.D., Professor of Moral Theology, and William Mattison, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Moral Theology, as Readers. _________________________________________ John S. Grabowski, Ph. D., Director _________________________________________ Brian Johnstone, S.T.D., Ph.D., Reader __________________________________________ William Mattison, Ph.D., Reader ii To Mom and Dad, With gratitude and love For life and faith generously given iii CONTENTS INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………….1 PART I: THE POTENTIAL FOR A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE MYSTERY OF SUFFERING………………………………………….17 CHAPTER 1: THE CHALLENGES OF CONTEMPORARY CULTURE FOR A GOSPEL OF SUFFERING…………………………………………….17 1.1 Consumerism’s Effect on Christian Anthropology………………....19 1.2 Variations in Christianity…………………………………………....29 1.3 Cultural Influences on Health……………………………………….34 1.4 The Relationship between Medicine and Religion………………….43 CHAPTER 2: THE ENDS AND MEANS OF MEDICINE……………………….…..53 2.1 Historical Framework of the Ends of Modern Medicine……………55 2.2 A Shift in the Meaning of the Body in Modern Medicine…………70 2.3 A Lack of Teleology Becomes a New Teleology…………………...73 2.4 Medicine as a Technological Quest…………………………………84 CHAPTER 3: THE CHALLENGE OF DEALING WITH SUFFERING…………….97 3.1 Theological Reflection on Health and the Practice of Medicine……97 3.2 Medicine’s View of Suffering as Failure……………….…………..102 3.3 The Results of Viewing Suffering as Weakness and Failure……….117 3.4 Patient Autonomy and Suffering…………………………………...127 3.5 Addressing the Problem of Suffering………………………………137 iv PART II: THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF WOJTYLA/JOHN PAUL II AS A FRAMEWORK FOR HUMAN EXPERIENCE……………………...145 CHAPTER 4: THE PHILOSOPHICAL FRAMEWORK OF WOJTYLA/JOHN PAUL II FOR THE MYSTERY OF SUFFERING……………………………. .145 4.1 Between Philosophical Worlds……………………………………..146 4.2. A Developing Philosophy………………………………………….157 CHAPTER 5: THE THEOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK OF KAROL WOJTYLA/ JOHN PAUL II FOR THE MYSTERY OF SUFFERING……………177 5.1 Knowledge of God: Two Levels of Faith and “Knowing Bodily”...178 5.2 Human Dignity and Proper Autonomy……………………………..191 5.3 Divine Providence and Human Freedom…………………………...196 5.4 Mercy as the Link to Theology from Philosophy…………………..202 CHAPTER 6: THE CONTRIBUTION OF JOHN PAUL’S THEOLOGY OF THE BODY…………………………………………………………….213 6.1 The Human Body Understood……………………………………..216 6.2 The Bodily Dimension of Man as Gift……………………….…….229 6.3 The Human Body as Means of Contemplation of God and a Paradigm of Reality………………………………………………...244 PART III: THE ROLE OF SUFFERING IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE AS POTENTIAL FOR COMMUNION……………………………………259 CHAPTER 7: NEW REFLECTIONS ON THE MYSTERY OF SUFFERING….…..259 7.1 Salvifici doloris and a Gospel of Suffering…………………….…..262 7.2 John Paul’s Anthropology of Vulnerable Persons…………………281 7.3 The Hermeneutical Key in The Acting Person and Salvifici doloris, Mystical Participation as a Transcendent Act of Man………….…289 v CHAPTER 8: REVELATION OF SUFFERING THROUGH EMBODIMENT…304 8.1 Double Significance of the Body: Matter and Channel of Revelation……………………………………………………...304 8.2 The Relation between the Body and the Heart…………………..311 8.3 The Body as Sign………………………………………………...316 8.4 Realities Signified in the Suffering Body………………………..325 CHAPTER 9: THE LANGUAGE OF SUFFERING AS GIFT FOR COMMUNION………………………………………………………360 9.1 Commonalities in the Language of the Body………….…………360 9.2 Hermeneutics of the Gift…………………………………………370 9.3 Unitive and Redemptive Love Together in Christ’s Suffering…...374 9.4 The Eucharist as Model of the Bodily Gift in Suffering…………377 9.5 True Communication: The Language of Gift in Suffering…….…382 9.6 Suffering and the Forging of Solidarity: Learning the Language of Love……………………………………………………………408 9.7 The Language of the Body: Domination vs. Self-Mastery: How an Adequate Anthropology of Suffering Addresses the Cultural/Medical Void………………………………………..412 CHAPTER 10: CONCLUSION AND FURTHER EMPLOYMENT OF WOJTYLA/JOHN PAUL’S THEOLOGY OF SUFFERING….417 10.1 Conclusion……………………………………………………...417 10.2 Related Issues for Further Investigation………………………..423 BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………………439 vi INTRODUCTION Suffering, which can be defined as “any experience that impinges on an individual’s or a community’s sense of well-being” is a constant within the human condition.1 In the midst of contemporary culture, there is no single explanation of the source, cause, or purpose of suffering, though suffering itself is a universal reality. Even within the history of the Christian tradition, there are various approaches to or explanations of the reality of suffering, so that it is impossible to easily synthesize its mysterious presence and purpose in human experience, with each explanation having a referent in Sacred Scripture.2 The various theological explanations of the reality of suffering face a particular difficulty at the beginning of the third millennium. Great scientific and medical progress 1 Richard Sparks, “Suffering” in New Dictionary of Catholic Spirituality, (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1993) 950. He goes on to explain: “Synonyms include pain, grief, distress, disruption, affliction, imposition, oppression, discrimination, and any sense of loss or of being victimized. The negative experience may be physical, psychological, interpersonal, or spiritual, though in most instances it involves a combination of these.” Contrasting this theological definition is a medical one offered by Eric J. Cassel, “The Nature of Suffering and the Goals of Medicine,” in The New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 306, (March 18, 1982), p. 640: “The state of severe distress associated with events that threaten the intactness of the person.” 2 Ibid., 950-52. Sparks lists six theological approaches to suffering. The first is conceptualizing suffering and evil as part of a dualism in all of creation, in which the forces of good are in constant battle with the forces of evil. He calls the second, a classical, free-will or Augustinian theodicy, in which suffering is caused by evil and sinful choices. The third is a variation on this theodicy in which suffering is punishment for wrongdoing, a belief challenged in the Book of Job. He calls the fourth a redemptive or ransom myth, by which the focus changes from the cause of suffering to its meaning, where suffering is likened to the paying of a debt. Sparks calls the fifth approach the Irenaean or evolutionary model, in which the unfinished world and its inhabitants are engaged in a fictional struggle for completion.
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