George Weigel is distinguished senior fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.
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George Weigel
When he was elected as Paul VI just fifty years ago, Giovanni Battista Montini seemed the perfectly prepared pope. He was the son of a middle-class family of Italian professionals with good Vatican ties. A competent linguist who had enjoyed a distinguished career in the Holy Sees diplomatic service, he was also a man of pastoral sensibilities … Continue Reading »
In the course of preparing The End and the Beginning, the second volume of my biography of John Paul II, I was struck by a historical coincidence that isnt much remarked these days: The opening of the Second Vatican Council in October 1962 coincided almost precisely with the Cuban Missile Crisis. Pope John XXIII solemnly opened the council on October 11 … Continue Reading »
Despite his humble origins as a bakers son from Trastevere, Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani, longtime curial head of the Holy Office (successor to the Inquisition, in journalese) and scourge of the nouvelle théologie of the 1950s, was a formidable figure in pre-conciliar Catholicism. Ottavianis approach to theology was neatly summarized in the Latin motto of his cardinalatial coat of arms, Semper Idem [Always the Same] … Continue Reading »
With his new book, American Church: The Remarkable Rise, Meteoric Fall, and Uncertain Future of Catholicism in America, mild-mannered Russell Shaw has become the bull in the china shop of U.S. Catholic history, knocking heroes off pedestals and overturning conventional story-lines”all in aid of trying to understand why the Church in America is in a precarious position today … Continue Reading »
As the Revised Standard Version renders the fourteenth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, Paul and Barnabas remind the proto-Christians of Antioch that it is only through many tribulations that we enter the Kingdom of God. The New American Bible translation drives the point home even more sharply: It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God. … Continue Reading »
Some twenty-three years ago, Ambassador Max Kampelman”former nuclear arms reduction negotiator with the Soviet Union and Counselor to the Department of State”decided that I needed a bit of diplomatic experience and invited me to be a public member of the U.S. delegation he would lead to the Copenhagen meeting of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, in the summer of 1990… . Continue Reading »
It was a brief greeting to former colleagues. But if you read Pope Francis recent letter to the Argentine bishops conference closely, you get a glimpse of the man, his convictions, and his vision. First, the man: Jorge Mario Bergoglio has remained very much himself … Continue Reading »
Baseball and movies dont often play well together. William Bendix as a Marine who dies happy in Guadalcanal Diary because hes just heard that the Dodgers have won is an icon of 1940s Americana; the same William Bendix as the Bambino in The Babe Ruth Story is a sad business, to be consigned to the (bad) memory bank. … Continue Reading »
The recent papal interregnum and conclave underscored the importance of re-forming, and reforming, the College of Cardinals. As configured on February 28 (when Benedict XVIs abdication took effect), the College was a somewhat strange electorate, albeit one that produced a striking result. … Continue Reading »
Certain ritual encounters have now become standard operating procedure for a new pope. In each of these meetings, Pope Francis has done something surprising, in his low-key, gentle way. In a Mass celebrated in the Sistine Chapel with the College of Cardinals on the day after his election, the Holy Father raised cautions about clerical ambition … Continue Reading »
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