The woman sued by the recently-deceased Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias is now asking his family to release her from her non-disclosure agreement.

Zacharias, who died earlier this week of a rare form of cancer, filed a federal lawsuit against Lori Anne Thompson in 2017.

According to Zacharias' statement about the issue, released in December 2017, the apologist met Thompson while at a Canadian conference in 2014. Thompson approached Zacharias to ask that he reach out her husband who she said "had questions about the Christian faith."

Zacharias did reach out to Thompson's husband. At another conference sometime later, Zacharias encountered Thompson and her husband in person where the couple invited Zacharias and his wife to dinner.

ized for the situation.

"Let me state categorically that I never met this woman alone, publicly or privately," says Zacharias. "The question is not whether I solicited or sent any illicit photos or messages to another woman—I did not, and there is no evidence to the contrary—but rather, whether I should have been a willing participant in any extended communication with a woman not my wife.

"The answer, I can unequivocally say, is no, and I fully accept responsibility. In all my correspondence with thousands of people in 45 years of ministry, I have never been confronted with a situation such as this, and God and my family and close friends know how grieved I have been."

al of grueling work, Brad and I have managed to salvage our faith, mended our marriage, and have never been more madly in love."

A transcript of Thompson's video message is posted to her blog.

The Zacharias family has not yet publicly responded to Thompson's request.