The Virtues of Father- and Motherhood

The Conference

“Man stands, as male and female, with the consciousness of the generative meaning of his own body: masculinity contains in a hidden way the meaning of fatherhood and femininity that of motherhood”
(John Paul II, Man and Woman He Created Them, 22, 6; March 26, 1980)

In his Catecheses on human love in the divine plan, also known as the Theology of the Body (TOB), St. John Paul II places great emphasis on the “spousal” meaning of the body: “The body, which expresses femininity ‘for’ masculinity, and, vice versa, masculinity ‘for’ femininity, manifests the reciprocity and the communion of persons.” Sexual difference speaks to us of a call to a reciprocal gift.

For the Polish Pontiff, the dynamic of sexual difference, however, does not end with the couple. By their intimate union, man and woman “place their humanity in some way under the blessing of fruitfulness” (TOB 14), so that one can rightly speak also of the body’s “generative” meaning (TOB 22). It is thus precisely in father- and motherhood that a crucial aspect of the meaning of sexual difference is revealed.

Following these insights, the Second Truth of Love Conference seeks to approach the topic of sexual difference by examining the virtues proper to father- and motherhood. As excellences that bring out the best in us, these virtues also speak about the fullness of man- and womanhood and the path of growth that leads us there.