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Pope John Paul II during his 1979 visit to Poland. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 3.0 PL) Cardinal Agostino Casaroli, Vatican Secretary of State from 1979 to 1990 — and before that, the architect and chief diplomatic agent of the Ostpolitik  of Pope Paul VI — initially played hard-to-get when I tried to interview him for the first volume of my John Paul II biography, Witness to Hope . The cardinal was not a fan of my 1992 book, The Final Revolution: The Resistance Church a

(Photo: Wikimedia Commons / Fair Use) Those who remember the epic pontificate of St. John Paul II may recall a tall, handsome layman with well combed, iron-grey hair, dressed in a black business suit, white shirt, and black tie, following the clerical members of the papal household into St. Peter’s Square on many great occasions, or carrying an umbrella over the Pope’s head when it rained. That same man is at center stage in photos of the assassination attempt of May 13, 1981

(Photo: Unsplash) Twenty years ago, I published a small book, The Cube and the Cathedral: Europe, America, and Politics Without God. It enjoyed a fair sale, got translated into French, Spanish, Polish, Italian, Portuguese, and Hungarian, and was named a FOREIGN AFFAIRS  Bestseller. In it, I argued that Europe was experiencing a crisis of “civilizational morale,” evident in sclerotic governmental bureaucracies, an unwillingness to contribute appropriately to the defense of the

"No matter how many times the Church seems destined for destruction, or at least precipitous decline, Christ is born anew in the world." St. John Paul II looks out over a massive crowd gathered for World Youth Day Denver 1993. Throughout his papacy, the saintly pontiff signaled a "new springtime," a New Evangelization for the Catholic Church in the twenty-first century, one filled with hope. (Denver Catholic file photo) “Remember that you were at that time separated from Chri

German Bishops at Mass in the Papal Basilica of St. Paul outside the Walls during their visit in Rome, Nov. 17, 2022. (Photo: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA) When it was first published in 1993, Pope St. John Paul II’s encyclical on the reform of Catholic moral theology, Veritatis Splendor  (The Splendor of Truth), dealt a severe blow to the pride of many German theologians, who had long thought themselves the cutting edge of Catholic intellectual life. Indeed, within a year of the encycl

From trust to temptation, Pope St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body reveals why the fall wasn’t about an apple, but about doubting the Father's love. (Photo: Lightstock) I have a friend who had a very sweet and precocious son. When he was very little, she told me, “Jack has a question for you.” The question: “Why is God so mean? He wouldn’t even let Adam and Eve eat apples!”           Don’t we all kind of feel that way? I know I did. It took my beloved Pope St. John Paul I

We’re made in the image of a God who is a communion of love — Father, Son and Holy Spirit — and we can only mirror that image when we live for others. (Photo: Pexels) I just finished reading the excellent book “From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life” by Arthur C. Brooks. One of my favorite parts was his discussion of the importance of relationships to our happiness. Like many other academics who study happiness, he ha

George Weigel, syndicated Denver Catholic columnist, addresses a group at The Benson Center for the Study of Western Civilization during...

At a moment like this when there doesn’t seem to be a lot going right – ascendant authoritarianisms throughout the world; lethal violence...