Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

What a year 2022 was for Theology of the Body Institute! Thanks to you, we were busier than ever spreading St. John Paul II’s Theology of Body to a world that needs to hear this healing, hopeful, life-changing teaching more than ever.

We are so grateful for your support of time, talent and treasure. We simply cannot do what we do without you! 

Below is a recap of ways your support enabled us to grow in our mission, followed by a glimpse of some exciting plans coming in 2023. 

We are confident that the Theology of the Body will continue to spread around the globe like wildfire in 2023 and hope you are participating in the Eucharistic Revival that runs through 2024. Of course, helping people enter ever more deeply into the “great mystery” of the Eucharist is at the heart of all we do at the TOB Institute. 

Your brother in Christ,​

Christopher West, Th.D.
President, Theology of the Body Institute

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TOBI 2022 Year in Review

• From May 13-15, TOB Institute debuted a groundbreaking live Catholic event, Revealed: Become What You Are, which featured leading Catholic voices in Fr. Mike Schmitz, Jeff Cavins, Jason Evert, Bobby and Jackie Angel, Damon Owens, Abbey Foard and TOBI’s Christopher West, Jen Settle, and Bill Donaghy, plus many others. They spent a retreat-like weekend at Black Rock Retreat Center in Quarryville, PA, presenting testimonies and examinations of cultural issues through the Theology of the Body lens. Seventy-eight attendees from several countries attended in person and spent time with the speakers before and after the presentations. An additional 18,000 people from around the world paid for special online access to the weekend, where they could follow the presentations, watch additional content and ask questions to the speakers.

• It was a huge year of growth for our in-person and online courses. Our nine in-person courses at Black Rock Retreat Center drew 660 students from around the world, and our nine online courses set a total attendance record of 511 students. Nearly two dozen countries were represented among these 1,171 students. Due to the demand from Theology of the Body students who live around the world and are not able to attend our in-person courses, we completed the filming of every course we offer. While we always recommend attending in-person, you can now go through the certification program completely online!

• The Institute also held TOB 1 and Way of Beauty courses in Madrid, Spain, led by Christopher West and Bill Donaghy, respectively.  

• Our certification program celebrated three graduates who will take their expertise and experience back to their parishes and ministries.  

• We spent 2023 building our Theology of the Body Institute YouTube channel and end the year having more than doubled our subscribers at 42,100. Christopher West’s long-form interviews with experts on hot faith and cultural issues through the TOB lens are featured on the channel, and we were blessed to have introduced this year popular new shows from Bill Donaghy & Fr. Patrick Schultz (“Way of Wonder”), Elizabeth Busby (“Discerning Marriage”) and young adult speaker Brendan McCauley.

• Ask Christopher West (hosted by Wendy West) continues to shine as the world’s leading Theology of the Body podcast. As of Dec. 28, the podcast has 1.97 million total downloads.

• Thirty-two pilgrims joined us for a beautiful adventure to Spain and Fatima from Aug. 26-Sept. 4 to explore Our Lady of Fatima and the Spanish Mystics. A dozen pilgrims stayed on after to do a mini-Camino excursion. See below for our 2023 pilgrimages that are now open for registration.

• TOB Institute Press continued to celebrate the release of God Is Beauty in paperback and Kindle, with an audiobook on the way in early 2023. This fall in Cincinnati, Bill Donaghy led a weekend retreat based on themes from God Is Beauty. TOBI Press also assumed ownership of the English version of Good News About Sex & Marriage and will be publishing the paperback, e-book and audiobook in 2023. We also established a publishing partnership in Brazil that produced a Portuguese version of God Is Beautyin November. 

• Thousands of attendees packed churches around the country for 18 Made for More events in 2022. Made for More, our signature live event featuring Christopher West and Mike Mangione, traveled to Florida, Connecticut, Ohio, Illinois, New Mexico, Texas, New York, Michigan, Maryland, Tennessee and California. In January 2023, Christopher and Mike will bring Made for More to the Archdiocese of Sydney, Australia, for a brief tour.

• This fall, TOB Institute launched its new major campaign to introduce the world to the Theology of the Body through our TOB 1: Head & Heart online course. Click on the QR code at the end of this letter to learn more!

A Glimpse at Our Plans for 2023!

• Bill Donaghy will debut a new course on the Way of Wonder focused on J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and G.K. Chesterton, plus wisdom from St. John Paul II and other TOB-lensed philosophers and theologians. 

• TOBI Press will release Christopher West’s next book, Eating the Sunrise: Meditations on the Liturgy and Our Hunger for Beauty, in the spring. This book will be a perfect companion for the Church’s worldwide Eucharistic Revival that continues through 2024, and provides a roadmap for greater transcendence in attending (and celebrating) Mass. Pre-order information coming soon!
• TOBI Director of Ongoing Formation Jen Settle will launch a clergy enrichment program and the Awaken parish formation program (which will launch with a filmed study on gender issues using Christopher’s Eclipse of the Body booklet).
• Christopher and Wendy West, Jason and Jeanette Clark and chaplain Fr. Luke Farabaugh will lead our first river cruise on the Seine River in France from Oct. 26-Nov. 2. A pre-cruise extension to Lourdes Oct. 22-26 is also available. 
• Jen Settle and Fr. Benjamin Lehnertz will also lead The Journey of Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Juan Diego” pilgrimage in Mexico City from June 12-17.

• The Institute has filmed Elizabeth Busby’s Next Step program for a launch sometime in 2023. Next Step helps parishes fill a huge need in ministering to seriously dating couples who want to discern more intentionally with each other if they are called to marriage (because pursuing further knowledge for the sake of a deeper discernment of marriage is simply the next step in a dating relationship).

• Our TOB 1 online course will expand with its first non-English offerings in Spanish and Portuguese. 

• The Institute will take its TOB 1: Head & Heart Immersion Course on the road to the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. Details to come!