Near the beginning of The Jeweler's Shop, by Karol Wotjyla (the future John Paul II), one of the characters, a young woman, recalls a hiking trip she took with friends. At night, in the mountains, a mysterious cry sounded, and everyone became quiet to listen for the call to sound again. Was it a . . . . Continue Reading »
Currently, visitors to the Vatican Museums in Rome have the opportunity to visit an exhibition devoted to Cardinal Bolesław Kominek (1903-1974), aptly titled “Europe’s Forgotten Founding Father.” The author of the “Pastoral Letter of the Polish Bishops to Their German Brothers,” sent . . . . Continue Reading »
The history of popes in these United States is full of surprises. And one of them, to begin at the beginning, includes the little-known fact that Blessed Paul VI was not the first pontiff to set foot on American territory, when he landed at newly-renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport on . . . . Continue Reading »
During a recent televised video conference hosted by ABC’s 20/20, Pope Francis spoke to several American Catholics who had personal testimonies to share. Among them was seventeen-year-old Valerie Herrera, a student at Chicago’s Cristo Rey Jesuit High School. She has long struggled with . . . . Continue Reading »
From Enemy to Brother: The Revolution in Catholic Teaching on the Jews, 1933–1965 by John Connelly Harvard, 384 pages, $35 The Jewish religion,” said John Paul II on the occasion of his historic visit to the Chief Synagogue of Rome, “is not ‘extrinsic’ to us, but in a certain way is . . . . Continue Reading »
“I guess all of us live a double life in a sense or at least we are tempted in that direction. We split our lives in two between the religious part and the everday part. Escriva’s message is that it is all meant to hang together as a life lived in the service of God and other . . . . Continue Reading »
The following is a transcript of part two of Gayle Trotter’s podcast interview with George Weigel. Gayle talks with Weigel about The End and the Beginning, the newly released second part of his biography of John Paul II. Weigel, the author of fifteen books and a weekly . . . . Continue Reading »
Gayle talks with George Weigel about The End and the Beginning, the newly released second part of his biography of John Paul II. Weigel, the author of fifteen books and a weekly syndicated column, is a Roman Catholic theologian and Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public . . . . Continue Reading »
In the very first year of his papacy, Pope John Paul II planted a time bomb in the Church that is not likely to go off until about twenty years from now. Beginning in September 1979, he devoted fifteen minutes of each weekly general audience over a five-year period to sustained, dense, and rigorous . . . . Continue Reading »
In the best that has been thought and said about the twentieth century, its Christian martyrs have hardly been mentioned. This should come as no surprise. From our vantage point at the beginning of a new millennium, it seems a little far-fetched that someone would be killed because he is Christian, . . . . Continue Reading »
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