By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist

Christopher West, the popular speaker and writer who has traveled the world teaching Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body has announced that he will take a six month sabbatical to consider his approach in presenting the Church’s teaching on sexuality.

LifeSiteNews.com is reporting that Christopher West has cancelled all speaking engagements for the next six months in order to take time off for “personal and professional renewal.” The decision was made by both West and the board of directors of the Theology of the Body Institute where West serves as a research fellow and faculty member.

The official announcement makes no mention of the controversy that has been swirling around West’s work for the past year during which time his approach has been criticized as being immodest.

“A number of influential theologians, including West’s former professor at the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family in Washington, Dr. David Schindler, criticized West’s approach for an under-emphasis on man’s tendency to sin, known as concupiscence, and for a lack of reverence around weighty and sacred subjects,” LifeSite reports.

West later admitted that he had not adequately emphasized concupiscence in his earlier work:  “In some of my earliest lectures and tapes, I confess that I did not emphasize this important point clearly enough. The battle with concupiscence is fierce. Even the holiest saints can still recognize the pull of concupiscence within them.”

Therefore, West will take six months off to give himself time to “reflect more deeply on fraternal and spiritual guidance he has received in order to continue developing his methodology and praxis as it relates to the promulgation of the Theology of the Body.” 

During the sabbatical, he will also be attending to “family needs.”

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