The erotic dimensions of love
150. All this brings us to the sexual dimension of marriage. God himself created sexuality, which is a marvellous gift to his creatures. If this gift needs to be cultivated and directed, it is to prevent the "impoverishment of an authentic value".146 Saint John Paul II rejected the claim that the Church's teaching is "a negation of the value of human sexuality "because it is necessary for procreation".147 Sexual desire is not something to be looked down upon, and "and there can be no attempt whatsoever to call into question its necessity".148
146 John Paul II, Catechesis (22 October 1980), 5: Insegnamenti III/2 (1980), 951.
147 Ibid., 3.
148 Id., Catechesis, (24 September 1980), 4: Insegnamenti III/2 (1980), 719.
