The End and the Beginning - Pope John Paul II: The Victory of Freedom, the Last Years, the Legacy

 Our Description

 

The End and the Beginning - Pope John Paul II: The Victory of Freedom, the Last Years, the Legacy by George Weigel

 

“As March gave way to April in the spring of 2005 and the world kept vigil outside the apostolic palace in Rome, the pontificate of Pope John Paul II, then drawing to a poignant end, was already being described as one of the most consequential in two millennia of Christian history.”
 
With these words, world-renowned Catholic theologian, author and NBC Vatican analyst George Weigel begins his long-awaited sequel to the international bestseller Witness to Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II. More than ten years in the making, The End and the Beginning: Pope John Paul II—The Victory of Freedom, the Last Years, the Legacy tells the dramatic story of the Pope’s battle with communism in light of new and recently disclosed information and brings to a close Weigel’s landmark portrait of a man who not only left an indelible mark on the Catholic Church, but also changed the course of world history.
 
When he was elected pope in the fall of 1978, few people had ever heard of the charismatic Karol Wojtyla. But in a very short time he would ignite a revolution of conscience in his native Poland that would ultimately lead to the collapse of European communism and death of the Soviet Union. What even fewer people knew was that the KGB, the Polish Secret Police, and the East German Stasi had been waging a dangerous, decades-long war against Wojtyla and the Vatican itself. Weigel, with unprecedented access to many Soviet-era documents, chronicles John Paul’s struggle against the dark forces of communism.
 
Moreover, Weigel recounts the tumultuous last years of John Paul’s life as he dealt with a crippling illness as well as the “new world disorder” and revelations about corruption within the Catholic Church. Weigel’s thought-provoking biography of John Paul II concludes with a probing and passionate assessment of a man who lived his life as a witness to hope in service to the Christian ideals he embraced.

George Weigel, Distinguished Senior Fellow of Washington’s Ethics and Public Policy Center, is a Catholic theologian and one of America’s foremost commentators on issues of religion and public life. A Newsweek contributor and Vatican analyst for NBC News, Weigel is the author of fifteen books, including the New York Times bestseller Witness to Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II. His work has been translated into more than a dozen languages.

Other Styles and Formats:

A Tiber River reviewer hasn't written a review for this book yet.
Sign up as a Tiber River reviewer and see your review here!
(Apart from fame, you can also can get free stuff and gift certificates.)

 Other Customers Also Purchased

Praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet During Adoration for the Sick and Dying

Mothers' Manual

 Browse For Similar Items In

• Catholic Book Store > Biographies and Autobiographies

Related Articles

1. Five Degrees of Blessed Mother Teresa 09/04/2012

2. St. Philip Neri - A Most Admirable Life 05/25/2010

3. 41 Famous Quotes from Cardinal Newman 05/17/2010

4. Damien of Molokai - Priest of Heroic Kindness 11/02/2009

5. Msgr. Ronald Knox - Priest of Heroic Modesty 10/05/2009

6. Fr. Peter Whelan - Priest of Heroic Generosity 08/31/2009

7. Augustine Tolton - Priest of Heroic Patience 07/30/2009

8. Don Carlo Gnocchi - Priest of Heroic Kindness 06/18/2009

9. Fr. Vincent Capodanno - Priest of Heroic Virtue 06/01/2009

10. Our Lady of Fatima 02/26/2009