The “explosion” of St John Paul II’s Theology of the Body in the Catholic Church in America and its global implications for the New Evangelisation
The “explosion” of St John Paul II’s Theology of the Body in the Catholic Church in America and its global implications for the New Evangelisation

Summary/Abstract: In 1999 George Weigel made a prediction in his now famous biography of St John Paul II – A Witness to Hope - which was eerily prophetic. Commenting on John Paul’s Theology of the Body – which is the Pope’s prolific Christian anthropology on sexuality and morality - George Weigel stated that, “These catechetical addresses constitute a kind of theological time bomb set to go off, with dramatic consequences perhaps in the twenty-first century.” (Weigel, 2005, p. 343) The focus of this paper will be on a particular group of Catholic speakers in America (Christopher West, Jason & Crystalina Evert, Brian Butler etc) who have taken this teaching very seriously and are helping it “ignite” and spread like wildfire causing a “sexual counter-revolution” that’s changing lives around the world.” (West, 2016, n.p) In this paper my aim is to analyse this phenomenon so that those involved in the New Evangelisation in other parts of the world can perhaps learn how to implement The Theology of The Body, and so too benefit from JP II’s prolific teachings.

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