Reporting from the Book Launch

Sr Lorraine writes about the Book Launch:

Last evening we had a book launch at Boston College for Women, Sex, and the Church: A Case for Catholic Teaching.


This project brought together a group of talented women who are experts in their field. Most of them have written books on the subject matter of their respective chapters. They know what they’re talking about.

They cover the material in a unique way, from a pro-woman perspective rooted in Catholic teaching. They show that these teachings of the Church, which are so controversial today, are in fact pro-woman. To this end they not only discuss doctrine and moral teachings, but do so in a way that takes into account solid data from sociology and other fields. The book, then, is not just theoretical, but it shows what happens in a society when sexual morality breaks down on a massive scale. The end result hurts people.

This book complements other titles that Pauline Books & Media has published in this area, especially those concerning the theology of the body. Pope John Paul often spoke of the spousal meaning of the body, a meaning which he defined as “the power to express love: precisely that love in which the human person becomes a gift and—through this gift—fulfills the very meaning of his or her being and existence.” And quoting the text from Gaudium et Spes that he used so often, human persons cannot fully find themselves except through a sincere gift of self.” (TOB 15:1; p. 185).

The book also includes a chapter explaining Catholic doctrine concerning the ordination of only men to the priesthood. That chapter is written by Sr Sara Butler, one of the foremost experts in the field who explains this teaching lucidly and succinctly.

Snoring Scholar reviews "The Human Person"

Thanks, Sarah!

Recently, I dubbed The Human Person According to John Paul II, by J. Brian Bransfield, “one of the best books I’ve read in a lonnnng time (maybe ever).” It’s time to support that statement with a few reasons why you should not only pick it up and read it, but also buy it for your parish library and your best friend.
This book is approachable. The most compelling reason I have for wanting to stand from my rooftop and trumpet to everyone I know that they should read this book is that it’s approachable AND that it makes the whole idea behind Theology of the Body (republished in an expanded form recently as Man and Woman He Created Them), John Paul II’s great masterpiece (which is also online), approachable.
TOB is a HUGE undertaking to read and an even bigger undertaking to understand and unpack. I’ve read a host of other authors who have tried it, and who have done well. But this is the first book that I felt like I could hand to my friends, my husband, and my pastor with absolutely no compunction. It’s one of the only books I have purchased after receiving a review copy, and one of an even smaller number that I know I’ll be buying again.
There’s heavy, deep stuff in this book, because that’s the topic, but it’s written in a way that makes you comfortable. My husband thought, for the first two-thirds of the book, that I was reading a novel, and his eyebrows were lost in his hairline for a day or two when he found out it was nonfiction.

Read the rest here. 

Weigel Interview: TOB?

George Weigel just released a new book that is a sequel to Witness to Hope, his biography of John Paul. There’s an interview here: http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/246867/pope-s-legacy-fire-interview

  

From the interview:

"[John Paul's TOB writings] have changed the discussion of sexual morality in the Catholic Church, and they’re beginning to do so in the world. Believe it or not, a group of Columbia students self-organized an outdoor discussion of John Paul’s books on sexual ethics at Rockefeller Center recently. No one could have imagined any such thing happening in, say, 1978, when he was elected."

Where does TOB belong?

Applying theology of the body to societal problems

A deeper understanding of our bodies' physical and spiritual dimensions can shed light on the harmful, distorted views of society

By Emily Stimpson - Our Sunday Visitor, 9/26/2010

The theology of the body is not just a theology for Marriage Encounter weekends, Pre-Cana classes or high school classrooms. It’s also a theology for the public square.
Seriously.
Of course, Pope John Paul II’s collection of teachings has a lot to say about sex and sexuality. When it comes to communicating the Church’s understanding of marital love and intimacy to contemporary culture, the theology of the body has been a game-changer, helping countless people grasp for the first time the sacredness and power of giving one’s body to another.
But it’s not called the theology of the body (as opposed to the “theology of sex”) for nothing. Pope John Paul II’s teachings are, at their heart, not a sex-ed curriculum, but rather an anthropology of what it means to be a human person. They are a prism through which Catholics can view themselves and the world rightly.
That’s why the theology of the body has something to say about what happens outside, as well as inside, couples’ bedrooms. It is, at its most basic, not just a guide for how we are to love, but also for how we are to live.
And, when properly understood, it sheds light on the root causes of some of our culture’s most pressing social concerns: the spread of pornography, the rise in out-of-wedlock births, the culture of divorce, support for abortion and embryo-destructive procedures, and the push for same-sex marriage.

Read the rest: http://www.osv.com/tabid/7622/itemid/6917/In-Focus-Applying-theology-of-the-body-to-societa.aspx

TOB critique

Sr. Lorraine is one of the Theology of the Body specialists in the Pauline editorial department, so she was quite interested when author and convert-blogger Dawn Eden made her Master's Thesis on Christopher West's ten key themes available. That thesis has gotten a lot of publicity, and has also contributed to some less-than-charitable characterizations of West and his work.
Is Eden on the right track? Is Christopher West promoting his own (off-base) understanding of the Theology of the Body more than offering a reasonably popularized version of Pope John Paul's teaching?
Sister Lorraine offers a point by point critique. Given her vast experience working with West (especially on his revised "Theology of the Body Explained") and Dr. Waldstein (in the critical translation of the Pope's texts), Sister Lorraine should be given a hearing.

Book Review: The Human Person in the Thought of John Paul II

Book Explores What It Means to be Human in Light of 
Theology of the Body

WASHINGTON—“What does it mean to be human?” A new book by the priest who spearheads the evangelization and catechetical efforts of the U.S. bishops explores this question by drawing on the teachings of Pope John Paul II in his theology of the body. In The Human Person: According to John Paul II, published by Pauline Books and Media, Father J. Brian Bransfield examines the vision of humanity expressed by Pope John Paul II and uses it as the basis for a moral theology that offers practical guidance and support in living the Christian life.

Father Bransfield writes about the challenges raised by three social revolutions of the 20th Century – the industrial, sexual and technological revolutions – and how Pope John Paul’s theology of the body responded to the resulting societal shifts. These shifts, Father Bransfield observes, have led to a disregard for women, the spread of cohabitation, the rise in divorce and the growing trend of fatherlessness. John Paul II challenged all of these trends. Father Bransfield shows how Christians today can overcome the negative consequences of these shifts through living the teaching of the theology of the body as an essential element of the new evangelization proclaimed by Pope John Paul II.

Father J. Brian Bransfield is a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. He currently serves as the Assistant General Secretary and Executive Director of the Secretariat of Evangelization and Catechesis at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Father Bransfield holds a doctorate in moral theology from the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family in Washington.
---
This review dated June 10, 2010; http://www.usccb.org/comm/archives/2010/10-114.shtml

Answering the tough TOB questions

What does the Church have against women? That's what many in our culture seem to wonder, deep down. And the new "Women, Sex and the Church" can help. Editor Erica Bachiochi "argues that her previous status as a feminist who viewed the Church as almost evil should lend even more credibility to the work. After all, it is far more convincing for some to hear from someone who ‘saw the light’ than it is coming from someone who never thought otherwise."


Read the rest of the review here.