Witness to hope : the biography of Pope John Paul II

George Weigel, author of Witness to Hope, will be giving a series of lectures in Oxford, London, Manchester, and Birmingham in mid-February. The definitive, authoritative biography of Pope John Paul II, with unprecedented co-operation from the Pope, including access to the Holy Father's papers. A groundbreaking portrait of the Pope as a man, philosopher, religious leader and political figure destined to become a classic. The authoritative biography of one of the singular figures --some might even argue, the singular figure of the twentieth century. John Paul II's life is filled with drama; his life is also replete with challenging ideas, whose power comes in part from the sensational character of Wojtyla's life and the integrity with which he has lived it. Even his critics concede that John Paul II occupies a unique place on the world stage at the end of this bloody century, and that he has put down markers that no one can ignore or avoid as humanity turns into a new millennium fraught with both possibility and danger. This book includes previously unpublished primary-source documentation of an historic quality. The Pope is a man of prodigious energy, and has played a crucial, yet heretofore unknown role, in this century's most momentous events, including the fall of communism, the Holy Sea/Israel negotiation of 1991-92, the disintegration of the Nicaraguan, Chilean, and Paraguayan regimes during the 1980s, and the unprecedented papal visit to Cuba. This biography explains how it is that this "man from a far country," as he describes himself to the Roman crowds on the night of his election, had done all of that, and what his accomplishments might portend for the future of both the Church and the world. Tues 18th Feb - The Chaplaincy (sp?), Oxford Wed 19th Feb - Westminster Cathedral Thur 20th Feb - Manchester University Fri 21st Feb - Oratory, Birmingham Preface A Brief Note on Pronunciation Prologue - The Disciple The drama of Karol Wojtyla's life A paradox and a sign of contradiction The more excellent way The broadness of a gauge The subject and the author A Son of Freedom - Poland Semper Fidelis Karol Wojtyla's national, cultural, religious, and family roots His childhood, his elementary and secondary education, the loss of his mother and brother The influence of his father on his education and piety His interest in Polish Romantic literature and in drama His first undergraduate year at Krakow's Jagiellonian University From the Underground - The Third Reich vs. the Kingdom of Truth The Nazi Occupation of Poland Karol Wojtyla and clandestine cultural resistance His introduction to Carmelite spirituality and manual labor The death of his father and the unfolding of a priestly vocation The underground seminary An "unbroken prince," Archbishop Adam Stefan Sapieha Karol Wojtyla's ordination and graduate studies in theology in Rome "Call Me Wujek" - To Be a Priest Country curate Father Karol Wojtyla's pioneering student chaplaincy in Krakow His first essays and poems The temptation of revolutionary violence and Wojtyla's first mature play An outdoorsman and a model confessor The beauty of human love Seeing Things as They Are - The making of a Philosopher A second doctorate, a new philosophical interest, and a new career Karol Wojtyla at the Catholic University of Lublin The Lublin challenge to modern skepticism A book on love and sexuality that raises a few eyebrows A New Pentecost - Vatican II and the Crisis of Humanism The youngest bishop in Poland The Second Vatican Council Karol Wojtyla is named Archbishop of Krakow Setting Vatican II's defense of freedom on a firm philosophical foundation Successor to St. Stanislaw - Living the Council in Krakow A cardinal at age forty-seven Wojtyla's quest for religious freedom in Krakow An extensive local implementation of Vatican II The mature essayist, poet, and playwright A distinctive style and a unique set of friends Testing the world stage A Pope from a Far Country - The Election of John Paul II The Church at the death of Pope Paul VI The "September Papacy" of Pope John Paul I The election of Karol Jozef Wojtyla as the first Slavic Pope in history and the first non-Italian in 455 years, to the surprise of many, but not all, concerned "Be Not Afraid!" - A Pope for the World An earthquake in the papacy and the Vatican Redefining the public ministry of the Bishop of Rome An alternative theology of liberation Program notes for a pontificate Preventing a war in Latin America Consternation in the Kremlin "How Many Divisions Has the Pope?" - Confronting an Empire of Lies The cultural power of the politically powerless An epic pilgrimage to Poland Nine days that bent the curve of modern history A revolution of conscience The Ways of Freedom - Truths Personal and Public Marital intimacy as an icon of the inner life of God Denouncing sectarian violence in Ireland The Pope at the United Nations Religious freedom as the first human right Teenagers in a frenzy at Madison Square Garden Galileo reconsidered An appeal to Orthodoxy Peter Among Us - The Universal Pastor as Apostolic Witness The pilgrim Pope in Africa, France, Brazil, West Germany, and Asia Collegiality and crisis management In defense of the family A bold appointment in Paris The mystery of fatherhood and mercy, divine and human In the Eye of the Storm - Months of Violence and Dissent The birth of Solidarity An unprecedented letter to Leonid Brezhnev The assassination attempt Shock therapy for the Jesuits The "Gospel of Work" Martial law in Poland The Falklands/Malvinas War Liberating Liberation - The Limits of Politics and the Promise of Redemption Revising Church law Canonizing a martyr of Auschwitz Confrontation in Nicaragua To recognize the saints God has made Restoring hope in Poland A seminar with agnostics and atheists A prison visit to a would-be papal assassin Suffering as a path to love Reliving the Council - Religion and the Renewal of a World Still Young Securing the legacy of Vatican II The "People Power" revolution in the Philippines Hosting world religious leaders in Assisi The first papal visit to the Synagogue of Rome The irrevocable Catholic commitment to Christian unity Addressing young Muslims in Casablanca A letter to the youth of the world Revamping the Vatican's press office Forward to Basics - Freedom Ordered to the Dignity of Duty Tear gas and the quest for democracy in Chile The beautification of Edith Stein A preview of communism's demise Hiking in the Dolomites The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople in Rome Opening a dialogue with Mikhail Gorbachev The excommunication of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre A distinctive feminism Starting a homeless shelter in the Vatican Counselor to Andrei Sakharov After the Empire of Lies - Miracles and the Mandates of Justice John Paul II in Scandinavia The communist crack-up A letter to Deng Xiaoping Gorbachev in the Vatican Defining the meaning of the "Revolution of 1989" Challenging democracies to live freedom nobly The Gulf War The catholic identity of Catholic universities To the Ends of the Earth - Reconciling an Unreconciled World The Church IS a mission A storm of controversy with Orthodoxy The re-evangelization of Europe Priests for a new millennium Colon surgery The Catechism of the Catholic Church Rejecting clericalism in Poland Defending persecuted Christians in Sudan Taking on the Mafia in Sicily The Threshold of Hope - Appealing to our Better Angels A surprise in Denver The renewal of moral theology Diplomatic relations with Israel Confronting the U.S. government at the Cairo World Population Conference More health problems A convent for contemplative nuns in the Vatican The debate on women and the priesthood An international bestseller Only One World - Human Solidarity and the Gospel of Life The Great Jubilee of 2000 The largest crowd in human history Another assassination attempt The "Gospel of Life" The Vatican and the World Conference on Women in Beijing Asking Orthodox and Protestant Christians to help devise a papacy that could serve them A "witness to hope" addresses the United Nations again Singing in New York's Central Park The golden jubilee A Reasonable Faith - Beyond a Century of Delusions Revising the rules for papal elections France and Poland Sarajevo, Lebanon, and Cuba The longest-serving pope of the twentieth century Catholic renewal movements in St. Peter's Square John Paul II's twentieth anniversary The Church in defense of human reason Epilogue: The Third Millennium - To See the Sun Rise The critiques of John Paul II are evaluated, his accomplishments are assayed, and a suggestion as to the nature of his greatness is offered Afterword A Church for the New Millennium Notes Bibliography Acknowledgements 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. This updated 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. George Weigel. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 947-956) And Index.