Sexual love needs to be ‘purified’

POPE Benedict explored the profound underlying unity between erotic love and “agape”, a Greek word to describe the unconditional, selfless love taught by Jesus.

Referring to the different dimensions of love, the pope said human love and desire could never by reduced to just sex if it was to be authentic.

If the two dimensions, agape and eros - the selfless and the sexual - were cut off from each other “the result is a caricature” of love, he said.