God's Choice: Pope Benedict XVI and the Future of the Catholic Church - Softcover

Weigel, George

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0060883545 ISBN 13: 9780060883546

Publisher: Harper, 2005

Synopsis

A New York Times Bestselling Author

After 25 years of John Paul II's guidance, the Catholic Church is entering a new age, with its bedrock traditions intact but pressing questions of its vitality to address a rapidly changing world. Beginning with a portrait of John Paul's final days, God's Choice offers an extraordinary account of the conclave that produced Benedict XVI as the next pope. George Weigel also gives us an authoritative look at the current state of the Church around the world, and the vibrancy of some aspects of Catholic life in the United States.

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About this title

About the Author:

George Weigel is one of the world's foremost authorities on the Catholic Church and the author of the New York Times bestseller Witness to Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II. He is a Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C., and a consultant on Vatican affairs for NBC News.

From Booklist:

One of the foremost biographers of Pope John Paul II (Witness to Hope, 1999) has five objectives in this exemplary book: to chronicle John Paul's last days, to assess the church as John Paul left it, to report the deliberations of the conclave that elected Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger to succeed John Paul, to sketch the new pope's career and personality, and to suggest what Benedict XVI's papacy could bring. Weigel adopts a different manner for each objective. He is a magisterial historian for John Paul's decline and death, an authoritative analyst of the state of the church, a creative journalist reporting about the conclave (literally creative: this part of the book appears in diary form), a judicious profiler in his precis on Ratzinger, and an interested counselor in his prognostications. Most impressive is the treatment of the end of John Paul's reign as a drama of reciprocal love between the pope and the church--indeed, the world--that climaxes in the cries of "Magnus" ("great") and "Santo subito" (roughly, "sainthood now") that interrupt the papal funeral. Only Weigel's advocational forecasting seems a little wanting. Curial reform, better-coordinated Vatican communications, reestablishing bishops' pastoral responsibilities, principled rapprochement with still-Communist China and conflict-laden Islam, and other good things are nice to encourage. But Weigel says nothing about one of the most important themes of John Paul's papacy, the church's teachings on social justice, prominently including the just wage (one sufficient for one worker to support a family and modestly save). Certainly John Paul's right-hand man for 24 years, Cardinal Ratzinger, won't ignore those teachings, though neoconservative fellow traveler Weigel may wish he would. Ray Olson
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About this edition

• Publisher: Harper
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0060883545
• ISBN 13: 9780060883546
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 576