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August 12, 2020

Charles Lewis: Some sound advice for our next pope

Catholic writer George Weigel sets out a Gospel-inspired guide for the next pontiff in his new book The Next Pope.

We need to stop from time to time to contemplate what it means to be Catholic in this aggressively secular society of ours. It is easy for our beliefs to be swamped by the detritus of a powerful popular culture that looks upon us with bare tolerance at best and derision at worst.

Published in Charles Lewis
March 9, 2018

Weigel adds personal touch to life of Pope John Paul II

Pope John Paul II greets throngs of Poles waiting for a glimpse of their native son at the monastery of Jasna Gora in Czestochowa during his 1979 trip to Poland. Although the part played by the Catholic Church in the overthrow of communism has been detailed by countless books and studies, some Western commentators and historians appear unwilling to acknowledge it.

In Lessons in Hope: My Unexpected Life with St. John Paul II, Baltimore-born papal biographer George Weigel reflects in a highly personal way on the 15 years he devoted to chronicling the life and times and impact of John Paul II in Witness to Hope (1999) and The End and the Beginning (2010). It is a story that emphasizes repeatedly and powerfully the idea of providence.

Published in Guest Columns
November 3, 2016

Weigel warns against the forces fighting faith

Charles Lewis says that George Weigel, pictured here at the Vatican in 2014, might be the most important lay Catholic at work today.

George Weigel might just be the most important lay Catholic at work today. The American writer’s books, essays, newspaper columns and lectures address the importance of defending the Catholic faith, and religion in general, from the assault of radical secularism.

Published in Charles Lewis
March 19, 2015

Christian disciples united by legacy of John Paul II

George Weigel, a U.S. biographer of Pope John Paul II, is pictured in Rome Jan. 12. Weigel's latest book, "The End and the Beginning: Pope John Paul II - The Victory of Freedom, the Last Years, the Legacy," is a sequel to his 1999 biography of the late pope. It adds new details about the church's struggle against communism and covers the last years of the pontiff's life.

I had the pleasure this past week of hosting George Weigel, one of the Church’s leading public intellectuals, in Toronto and Kingston. I had long wanted to host Weigel, a mentor and friend and colleague for more than 20 years, and thought that 2015, the 10th anniversary of the death of St. John Paul II, would be the perfect year to do it.

Published in Fr. Raymond de Souza