George Weigel

History of Vatican II: The Mature Council-The Formation of the Council’s Identity - First Period and Intersession, October 1962-September 1963 Edited by Giuseppe Alberigo and Joseph A. Komonchak Orbis Books 654 pages. History of Vatican II: The Mature Council-2nd Period and Intersession, A . . . . Continue Reading »

Pope John Paul II’s considerable effect on our times is conceded by admirers and critics alike. The imprint of the shoes of this fisherman can be found throughout the new democracies of east central Europe, Latin America, and East Asia. His critique of “real existing democracy” has helped . . . . Continue Reading »

Sunday, March 20 It’s not quite Egeria’s Diary of a Pilgrimage, but Evelyn Waugh’s Helena is terrific reading, or rereading, on an overnight flight to the Holy Land: a resolutely gritty, profoundly anti-Gnostic rendering of Constantine’s mother and her search for the true Cross, which, on . . . . Continue Reading »

As Time and other premillennial makers-of-lists have discovered in recent months, there is no lack of candidates for the position of emblematic figure of the twentieth century. In the world of politics alone, there are several plausible nominees on a slate that includes the admirable and . . . . Continue Reading »

Copyright (c) 1998 First Things 80 (February 1998): 19-25. That no good deed goes unpunished is nicely illustrated by the terms in which several biographers have recognized Pope John Paul II as a seminal figure in the Revolution of 1989. Thus Carl Bernstein and Marco Politi, in their 1996 book, His . . . . Continue Reading »

. . . . Continue Reading »

History of Vatican II Volume I: Announcing and Preparing Vatican Council II-Toward a New Era in Catholicism Edited by Giuseppe Alberigo English edition edited by Joseph A. Komonchak Orbis/Peeters, 527 pages, $80 In his November 1994 apostolic letter, Tertio Millennio Adveniente , John Paul II . . . . Continue Reading »

Mencken: A Lifeby fred hobsonrandom house, 650 pages, $35 H. L. Mencken, My Life as Author and Editor.edited with an introduction by jonathan yardleyknopf, 450 pages, $30 H. L. Mencken, Thirty-five Years of Newspaper Work . edited by fred hobson, vincent fitzpatrick, and bradford . . . . Continue Reading »

Gargantuan international conferences replete with diplomats, “international civil servants,” various “nongovernmental organization” (NGO) representatives, and the world press have been a staple feature of world politics since the Second World War. One does not fear sinning . . . . Continue Reading »

George Lindbeck, the distinguished Lutheran theologian, served from 1962 through 1965 as one of sixty “Delegated Observers” from other Christian communions at the Second Vatican Council. As Lindbeck has noted on previous occasions, the ecumenical observers from the worlds of Orthodoxy and . . . . Continue Reading »