Witness To Hope

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER "A remarkable book. Weigel's biography is likely to remain the standard one-volume reference on John Paul II for many years to come." — Pittsburg Post-Gazette ?“Fascinating. . . sheds light on the history of the twentieth century for everyone.” —New York Times Book Review The definitive biography of Pope John Paul II that explores how influential he was on the world stage and in some of the most historic events of the twentieth century that can still be felt today Witness to Hope is the authoritative biography of one of the singular figures—some might argue the singular figure—of our time. With unprecedented cooperation from John Paul II and the people who knew and worked with him throughout his life, George Weigel offers a groundbreaking portrait of the Pope as a man, a thinker, and a leader whose religious convictions defined a new approach to world politics—and changed the course of history. As even his critics concede, John Paul II occupied a unique place on the world stage and put down intellectual markers that no one could ignore or avoid as humanity entered a new millennium fraught with possibility and danger. The Pope was a man of prodigious energy who played a crucial, yet insufficiently explored, role in some of the most momentous events of our time, including the collapse of European communism, the quest for peace in the Middle East, and the democratic transformation of Latin America. With an updated preface, this edition of Witness to Hope explains how this “man from a far country” did all of that, and much more—and what both his accomplishments and the unfinished business of his pontificate mean for the future of the Church and the world.

The collapse of communism in central and eastern Europe--the Revolution of 1989--was a singularly stunning event in a century already known for the unexpected. How did people divided for two generations by an Iron Curtain come so suddenly to dance together atop the Berlin Wall? Why did people who had once seemed resigned to their fate suddenly take their future into their own hands? Some analysts have explained the Revolution in economic terms, arguing that the Warsaw Pact countries could no longer compete with the West. But as George Weigel argues in this thought-provoking volume, people don't put their lives, and their children's futures, in harm's way simply for better cars, refrigerators, and TVs. Something else--something more--had to happen behind the iron curtain before the Wall came tumbling down. In The Final Revolution, Weigel argues that that "something" was a revolution of conscience. The human turn to the good, to the truly human, and, ultimately, to God, was the key to the political Revolution of 1989. Weigel provides an in-depth exploration of how the Catholic Church shaped the moral revolution inside the political revolution. Drawing on extensive interviews with key leaders of the human rights and resistance movements, he opens a unique window into the soul of the Revolution and into the hearts and minds of those who shaped this stirring vindication of the human spirit. Weigel also examines the central role played by Pope John Paul II in confronting what Václav Havel called communism's "culture of the lie," and he suggests what the future role of the Church might be in consolidating democracy in the countries of the old Warsaw Pact. The "final revolution" is not the end of history, Weigel concludes. It is the human quest for a freedom that truly satisfies the deepest yearnings of the human heart. The Final Revolution illustrates how that quest changed the face of the twentieth century and redefined world politics in the year of miracles, 1989.

A great international bestseller, the book in which, on the eve of the millennium, Pope John Paul II brings to an accessible level the profoundest theological concerns of our lives. He goes to the heart of his personal beliefs and speaks with passion about the existence of God; about the dignity of man; about pain, suffering, and evil; about eternal life and the meaning of salvation; about hope; about the relationship of Christianity to other faits and that of Catholicism to other branches of the Christian faith.With the humility and generosity of spirit for which he is known, John Paul II speaks directly and forthrightly to all people. His message: Be not afraid!

A sequel to Witness to Hope assesses the final years of Pope John Paul II, offering insight into his deteriorating health and devastating scandals within the Church while revealing a secret war between the Vatican and the Soviet Union.

Chronicles the life of Pope John Paul II and discusses his connections in Poland and Rome, his personal life, and how he made the choice between acting and religion.

2021 Association of Catholic Publishers third place award in theology 2021 Catholic Media Association Award second place award in theological and philosophical studies 2021 Catholic Media Association Award second place award in future church Globalization is uniting the world more closely than ever before while at the same time increasing the likelihood of division and conflict. Humanity faces problems of an unprecedented scope: vast inequality, climate change threatening the conditions of life on this planet, and a great population migration that includes human trafficking and desperate refugees. What does this global plight demand of a church called to be a sign and instrument of the union of all in God? In this book, Mary Doak shows how the church must rectify its own historic failures to embody the unity-in-diversity it proclaims, especially with regard to women and Jews. Only then, and through responding to the demands of the current global crises, can we learn what it means to be the church—that is, to be a prophetic witness and public agent of the harmony that God desires and the world deeply needs.

The world is full of interesting people, and it has been George Weigel's good fortune to have known many such personalities in a variety of fields: politics, religion, the arts and sciences, journalism, the academy, entertainment, and sports. In this collection of reminiscences and elegies, the best-selling author of the definitive biography of Pope Saint John Paul II remembers these men and women from inside the convictions that formed them. Whether he is sketching the lives of Nobel Prize–winning scientists, major league baseball managers, princes of the Church, television personalities, or history-making political leaders, Weigel tries to understand, and help readers understand, the deep truths of the human condition illuminated by each of these not-forgotten lives. Written with verve, insight, and an appreciation for the consequential lives that have touched his own, Not Forgotten fills out the autobiographical portrait that George Weigel began painting in Lessons in Hope: My Unexpected Life with Saint John Paul II, while offering a backstage view of some of the men and women who have shaped the turbulent history of our times. The 60 intriguing lives that he writes about are a wide diversity of unique characters and personalities, including Albert Einstein, William F. Buckley, Flannery O’Connor, Franz Jägerstätter, John Paul II, Jackie Robinson, Charles Krauthammer, Sophie Scholl, Henry Hyde, James Schall, S.J., Dietrich Von Hildebrand, Charles Colson, Fr Richard J. Neuhaus and many more.

This book invites all people of faith to consider how our personal and communal faith practices in growing deeper spirituality should bring us to a fresh engagement with the needs of this world. This includes being active in promoting those values which align with our understanding of the gospel and standing against injustice, oppression, and evil inflicted on any of God’s children. Such activism, rooted in deep spirituality, may include being what Quaker civil rights activist Bayard Rustin called “angelic troublemakers.”