Cartographies of the Body in Catholic Theological Anthropology: Issues Under Debate

Body Studies has emerged over recent decades as a new interdisciplinary field dedicated to rethinking the notion of the subject beyond the legacy of modernity, which prioritised intelligence, autonomy, will, and reason as the defining features of what it means to be human. The body is understood as a biological–symbolic complex that goes beyond the flesh and its materiality. It possesses its own symbolic language, rooted in human cultures, and communicates in different ways depending on the context in which it is expressed and experienced. Traditional Catholic theological anthropology defined the human being in terms of body, mind, and spirit, drawing on Hebrew categories. It subsequently adopted a Hellenised interpretation of these categories, establishing a marked polarity between soul and body. This article analyses the main anthropological proposals within Catholic theology and the issues and debates they have generated. It does so from a feminist hermeneutical perspective in dialogue with contemporary Body Studies. Finally, it presents proposals from feminist theological anthropology that may help to broaden the concept of the human being in relation to God.