Some Thoughts

Catholic Exchange is running a series on "Theology of the Body" and they asked me for my opinion. Here it is:

I am still in the process of pondering Dr. Alice von Hildebrand’s exquisite thirty-two page essay “Dietrich von Hildebrand, Catholic Philosopher, and Christopher West, Modern Enthusiast: Two Very Different Approaches to Love, Marriage and Sex.” As usual, Dr. von Hildebrand’s analysis is deeply rooted in Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition, the lives and writings of the saints and popes, and the profoundly Catholic philosophy of her late husband, Dietrich von Hildebrand. Her logic is flawless as she, in a great exercise of prudence, discusses the writings of Mr. West concerning marital love. To quote:

“Key to my concerns is West’s hyper-sexualized approach to the Theology of the Body. The French have a wonderful word to capture the veiling of one’s intimate feelings, out of a proper sense of shame—pudeur, a “holy bashfulness,” so to speak. Seized as he is by what he regards as his calling to evangelize a new generation with this theology in “modern” ways they can supposedly better understand, West practically ignores the importance of pudeur, and, by his imprudence, winds up undermining his own message.”

I would encourage every Catholic, especially Catholic mothers, to carefully read what Dr. Alice has to say. Last year, when she first dared to suggest that some of Mr. West’s writings might not be entirely in line with Catholic teaching and tradition, I was appalled at the attacks leveled at such a venerable and beloved lady. Some even dared accuse her of being “puritanical.”  There is nothing in the least puritanical about her writings. (For one thing, anyone who has ever traveled to modern France or Belgium will see that puritanism is pretty scarce, and has been for quite some time.) However, I think that puritanism is being confused with a love of modesty. Modesty is too often confounded with prudishness. It does not speak well for the state of American Catholicism when ladies and gentlemen cannot express their opinions about basic decency without being called “puritans” and “prudes.” There is a difference, a big difference, between the puritanical view of the body as dirty, and the view which approaches the body with modesty and reverence.

The beauty of intimacy exists because it is private, to be shared only with the beloved. When the sense of privacy is destroyed, then the intimacy is destroyed. Is there then any hope for romance, when the mystery of physical love is constantly examined under a microscope, on television, on podcasts, everywhere? It is especially damaging, I think, when this occurs under the pretext of learning about chastity, under the cloak of religion. The fruit of the breakdown of modesty will ultimately be adultery, which Dr. von Hildebrand alludes to in her remarks. A crass and bombastic approach to a delicate subject does nothing but break down the already deteriorating veil of modesty and reticence which should exist between people who are not married to each other, especially between young men and young women.

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