On the Mystical Body of Christ (Mystici Corpus Christi) by Pope Pius XII

• http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xii/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xii_enc_29061943_mystici-corporis-christi_en.html (1943 A.D.)
  

220 footnotes, most of it from Holy Scripture.

Anyone who prefers a simplistic view of Christ and the Gospel, devoid of mystery, needs to read the following passage.

Ephesians 5:29-32 -- A man never hates his own body, but he feeds it and looks after it; and that is the way Christ treats the Church, because we are parts of his Body. This is why a man leaves his father and mother and becomes attached to his wife, and the two become one flesh. This mystery has great significance, but I am applying it to Christ and the Church.

{According to Christopher West, this is John Paul II's selection for what summarizes the Bible. This leads to the Theology of the Body.}