George Weigel Bücher

Nicht nur seine Katholische Kirche im 20. Jahrhundert prägte Johannes Paul II. wie kein anderer, auch der Gang der deutschdeutschen, wie der europäischen Geschichte wäre ohne diese charismatische Figur zweifellos anders verlaufen. Sein lebenslanger Kampf gegen den Kommunismus, der Fall der Berliner Mauer und der Zusammenbruch der Sowjetunion - der international renommierte Journalist und Wissenschaftler George Weigel komplettiert hiermit seinen Welterfolg, die große Papstbiografie »Zeuge der Hoffnung«. Die letzten Jahre des populären Papstes waren nicht nur durch körperliche Probleme nach dem Attentat gekennzeichnet, er litt auch zunehmend unter den Enthüllungen über den inneren Zustand seiner Kirche. Auf der Basis von erst seit kurzem zugänglichen und zuvor als geheim eingestuften Zeugnissen wird dokumentiert, wie nicht nur der KGB und die polnische Geheimpolizei, sondern auch die Stasi den Papst jahrzehntelang mit allen Mitteln bekämpft haben.

Johannes Paul II. ist mit einem dramatischen Gestus des Glaubens von uns gegangen. Sein Freund, bis dahin der geniale Chefdenker der Kirche, hat als Benedikt XVI. das Steuerrad in Rom übernommen. Die Ereignisse überschlagen sich: Das ehemals christliche Abendland sucht verzweifelt nach Wertorientierung. Die Jugendlichen entdecken den Glauben wieder. Der neue Papst diskutiert auf Augenhöhe mit den größten Geistern der Erde. Benedikt wird zum internationalen Wortführer einer Zivilisation der Liebe. Was geschieht da eigentlich? George Weigel, die führende katholische Stimme Amerikas, legt mit »Das Projekt Benedikt« die Weltbilanz einer Wendezeit vor. Weigel, der berühmt wurde durch sein bedeutendes Standardwerk über Johannes Paul II., war und ist einer der wichtigsten Laienberater von beiden Päpsten. Wie kein anderer ist er berufen, schon jetzt die großen Linien eines Pontifikates darzustellen, das von Tag zu Tag mehr an Fahrt gewinnt.

For the faithful, the doubtful, and the searchers of every age, these letters convey the power of the Catholic faith that is at once personal and universal, timely and eternal. In this remarkable exploration of the Catholic world, prominent Catholic author and papal biographer George Weigel offers a luminous collection of letters to young Catholics, not-so-young Catholics, and curious souls who wonder what it means to be Catholic today. Weigel takes readers on an epistolary tour of Catholic landmarks -- from Chartres Cathedral to St. Mary's Church in Greenville, South Carolina; from the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem to G.K. Chesterton's favorite pub in Oxford; and from the grave of a modern martyr in Warsaw to the Sistine Chapel. Weaving together insights from history, literature, theology, and music, Weigel illuminates the beliefs that give Catholicism its distinctive texture and explores the theological importance of grace, prayer, vocation, sin and forgiveness, suffering, and -- most importantly -- love. To a world that sometimes seems closed and claustrophobic, he suggests, Christian humanism offers a world with windows and doors -- and a skylight.

The collapse of communism in central and eastern Europe--the Revolution of 1989--was a singularly stunning event in a century already known for the unexpected. How did people divided for two generations by an Iron Curtain come so suddenly to dance together atop the Berlin Wall? Why did people who had once seemed resigned to their fate suddenly take their future into their own hands? Some analysts have explained the Revolution in economic terms, arguing that the Warsaw Pact countries could no longer compete with the West. But as George Weigel argues in this thought-provoking volume, people don't put their lives, and their children's futures, in harm's way simply for better cars, refrigerators, and TVs. Something else--something more--had to happen behind the iron curtain before the Wall came tumbling down. In The Final Revolution, Weigel argues that that "something" was a revolution of conscience. The human turn to the good, to the truly human, and, ultimately, to God, was the key to the political Revolution of 1989. Weigel provides an in-depth exploration of how the Catholic Church shaped the moral revolution inside the political revolution. Drawing on extensive interviews with key leaders of the human rights and resistance movements, he opens a unique window into the soul of the Revolution and into the hearts and minds of those who shaped this stirring vindication of the human spirit. Weigel also examines the central role played by Pope John Paul II in confronting what V'aclav Havel called communism's "culture of the lie," and he suggests what the future role of the Church might be in consolidating democracy in the countries of the old Warsaw Pact. The "final revolution" is not the end of history, Weigel concludes. It is the human quest for a freedom that truly satisfies the deepest yearnings of the human heart. The Final Revolution illustrates how that quest changed the face of the twentieth century and redefined world politics in the year of miracles, 1989

The Definitive Biography of Pope John Paul II Witness to Hope is the authoritative biography of one of the singular figures -- some might argue the singular figure -- of our time. With unprecedented cooperation from John Paul II and the people who knew and worked with him throughout his life, George Weigel offers a groundbreaking portrait of the Pope as a man, a thinker, and a leader whose religious convictions defined a new approach to world politics -- and changed the course of history. As even his critics concede, John Paul II occupied a unique place on the world stage and put down intellectual markers that no one could ignore or avoid as humanity entered a new millennium fraught with possibility and danger. The Pope was a man of prodigious energy who played a crucial yet insufficiently explored role in some of the most momentous events of our time, including the collapse of European communism, the quest for peace in the Middle East, and the democratic transformation of Latin America. This updated edition of Witness to Hope explains how this "man from a far country" did all of that, and much more -- and what both his accomplishments and the unfinished business of his pontificate mean for the future of the Church and the world.