Theology of the Body, Extended: The Spiritual Signs of Childbirth, Impairment, and Dying

Pope John Paul II expected theologians to expand their insights of the 129 lectures given during his Wednesday audiences in St. Peter’s Square and Paul VI Audience Hall between September 1979 and November 1984. However, his integrated vision of the human person — body, soul, and spirit — has rarely gone beyond the popular topics of moral theology associated with sexuality and marriage.


Now, Susan Windley-Daoust, a passionate enthusiast of the theology of John Paul II, devoted spiritual director, and popular Assistant Professor of Theology at St. Mary’s University of Minnesota, extends the Theology of the Body to what it means to be human during the experiences of childbirth, impairment, and dying. Are there spiritual signs in these bodily events that are central to the human experience? Oh yes! And the signs mysteriously and wonderfully point to God.