The End and the Beginning
Pope John Paul II — the Victory of Freedom, the Last Years, the Legacy
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کتاب های مرتبط
- اطلاعات
- نقد و بررسی
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نقد و بررسی
October 15, 2010
When Weigel (Distinguished Senior Fellow, Ethics & Public Policy Ctr.) wrote what is probably still the best biography of Pope John Paul II, Witness to Hope, over ten years ago, the Pope was still in good health, and the repercussions of the collapse of communism in 1989 were yet to be fully understood. Now Weigel concentrates not only on the end of John Paul's pontificate but on the early years of his episcopacy, now seen in a new light because of the availability of material from Soviet archives. He deftly details the former Karol Wojtyla's battle against totalitarianism throughout his life and the Soviet Union's attempts to minimize the damage they perceived he could do to the communist system. He also examines John Paul's reaction to his crippling illness at the end of his life and finds wanting the Vatican reaction to the current sex abuse crisis in the United States. VERDICT This admiring but not uncritical biography will be of interest certainly to those who admire John Paul II, but it is also important for the light it sheds on the relationship between the Catholic Church and the Soviet Union.--Augustine J. Curley, Newark Abbey, NJ
Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
September 15, 2010
Evidently, 1,000 pages were not enough space to adequately survey the life of Pope John Paul II in Weigels biography, Witness to Hope (1999). Although the three sections in this work are designed to supplement that earlier one, only the first takes a thematic approach. The theme explored is communism and covers four decades of John Pauls life, before and during his papacy. The popes struggle against communism was covered sporadically in Witness but without as much detail or behind-the-scenes glimpses as there are here. The last event recorded in the earlier book was the Great Jubilee of 2000, five years before the pontiffs death. The final years of John Pauls papacy are covered in the second section, while the third is strictly reflective. The key question here is, What will Pope John Paul II be remembered for? Weigel explores numerous angles to his legacy, including his personal character and a strong spirit of ecumenism. A solid wrap.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)
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