Spiritual side of marriage

Press, 27 July 1976, Page 7

Spiritual side of marriage

Physical sexual expertise J did not of itself make for good marriages or good human re- ) lationships, said the Rev. 1 Felix Donnelly, senior lecturer in community health at L the Auckland Medical School., J Father Donnelly was reply-; r ing to a correspondent of “The Press,” Anna Holmes.' , who said she was disturbed: by an article, “New Zea-i , landers for sex,” which ap-i peared on June 29. The report; i was an address by Father; I (Donnelly to the biennial con-; . t’erence of the College of; . General Practitioners. in) ; Auckland. Ms Holmes wrote: “We live) jin a materialist world in-i habited by disintegrated man.) This disintegration is due toj (over-emphasis on the physi;cal and mental and ignoring! Jthe spiritual aspect of man. It; I;is precisely this that Christ! I came to free us from by ■ teaching us to love one another. Experts in sexology ;|and human relationships may be able to raise the level of self-awareness; they will not i improve inter-personal relatqionships unless they can in-' aspire love. There is also a real; ;idanger they will remove the) responsibility for his own) [’existence from the individual! to the expert — surely a most?

: subtle form of slavery. Was! I Father Donnelly only partly ) • reported, and did he. in fact.) . present a picture of the needs; • of the whole person, body,! : mind and spirit?” j Father Donnelly said he ,-lvery much agreed with the! .'comments that the spiritual) [(aspects of man. as 'distinct; (from the religious, were.) fundamental. It was a con-, (stant theme of all his talks, I on sexuality that fundamental' Ito man’s total happiness was) ■ the capacity to love and be) ,! loved. The point of the lecture to) . doctors included an emphasis ;on freeing the individual from) (psychological and interper-! Jsonal barriers rhat affected these fundamental abilities. (The particular area of his (concern in the address quoted j was to assist doctors to ap- . predate their role in meeting the needs of sexually- . dysfunctioning people, said , Father Donnelly. ' “The very danger of taking : responsibility as a clinician for another is one constantly stressed in our teaching at the I Auckland Medical School. ■(Physical sexual expertise i(does not of itself make for I’good marriages or good “human relationships.”