Rating: 
Summary: The Gospel Of Pope John Paul II
Review: It is said that the Gospels are not biographies of Jesus, but rather spiritual treatises, based on the life and sayings of Jesus. Similarly, "Witness To Hope" is truly a book which uses the life and sayings of Pope John Paul II to convey the spiritual message of his life and ministry.In "Witness To Hope" George Weigel introduces us to the inner thought and life of John Paul II. True, we do read of the events of his life, not so much to learn them, but to understand him. In this book we meet a man who believes in eternal, unchangeable truths, a man whose relationship with each human being is based on a recognition of the individual's inherent dignity and worth. Whereas other biographies explain John Paul II's life as reflecting his Polishness, "Witness To Hope" goes much deeper. Here we meet a man who thinks in centuries, not sound bites, although he can speak in sound bites too, a man who can touch millions personally in the course of his travels, as well as individually in the confessional. Here we meet the family, teachers, friends, theologians and philosophers who shaped John Paul's world view. Here we meet a man who sees problems in a radical way, that is at their root. With this vision, John Paul can attack problems at their course, not on their surfaces. Here we meet a man who is not out of touch with reality, because he knows human nature at its core. If John Paul has a problem in communicating, it is with people who have forgotten what it means to be human, a meaning found only in Jesus Christ. John Paul's Papacy has been highlighted by incessant efforts to evangelize and to teach the world
His world wide travels have made him the Church's number one evangelist. His extensive writings have laid the intellectual groundwork for a great Catholic revival. This is only one of many contradictions in John Paul II which Weigel points out to us. The challenge which John Paul II sees it his duty to oppose is that of a world which tries to find its meaning of life in anything other than God. In the conclusion, George Weigel defines the "Great" Popes as those who successfully confront a mortal threat to civilization. John Paul's claim to this title will depend on how accurately he has defined the threat of our day and how well he has met that threat. Read this book that you may understand John Paul better. Whether he has earned the moniker of "John Paul The Great", I can only give the advise which he gives every penitent, "You must decide."
Rating: 
Summary: Worth the Investment
Review: It's an investment of time to read through a book this size, but to me it was worth it. I have read several other biographies of the pope, and this one left me feeling the most like I not only knew WHAT he did and when, but also understanding WHY he did it, what he's thinking, what his view of a particular issue is, etc. I hope more than just the super-Catholic people and pope-lovers read this book. It's a great explanation to those on the outside looking in of what the Catholic faith and today's Catholic Church is "up to." Most such outsiders think they know, but they only know what they see in the popular media, and the people that run those things don't have a clue about it. This book makes accessible the real story.
Rating:
Summary: A Fine Work - But Mainly About Him as The Pope
Review: Karol Wojtyla is a Pole from the Krakow area that rose to great prominence. This is a fine work about a remarkable man. Regardless of his religion (I am not catholic) he has led a life where he has set a high moral goal for others to follow. The book is suitable for general readers (like myself) and has lots of details about the man starting from his youth and college days in Poland. There are many interesting insights and analysis. The book has 900 pages of details and stories with over 100 pages of references and footnotes. It contains two groups of about 20 photos per group showing his stages of development before and after becoming the Pope. As an Amazon.com book reviewer I want to make a few comments on the biography as a biography. Only about 10% of the book or the first two chapters of the 15 chapters is given over to his life and development outside being a priest. He was made a priest not many years after becoming an adult, so although the "biography" does cover his non religious life up to a point, the book is mainly about his rise through the catholic church and a lot of time - the vast majority - is given to discussing what he did, his religious beliefs, and what he thought as the Pope and how he executed his beliefs and put them into action. After a brief two chapter review on his youth, there are four chapters on his rise and then nine chapters on his life and philosophy as Pope. Recommended as an outstanding book even if you are not a catholic, but again it is 60% about his actions as the Pope. Jack in Toronto
Rating: 
Summary: Informative,heavily slanted,ultimately disappointing
Review: Mr Weigel has fashioned a mammoth,rather well written book On His Holiness that attempts to make him into the image that Mr. weigel wants{or thinks exists}.This is quite common among writers,biographres and historians. Mr. weigel is a fellow at a think tank,and naturally,follows that course in putting his politics into his perceptions of His Holiness.The people around His Holiness have alloewd a cult to appear around His Holiness,and they brook no opposition. Of course,this issue is not addressed.Also ignored[sadly,really] are His Holiness' constant berating of American materialism,his condemnation of the Gulf War{50+ public denouncements},his outright rejection of the cuban embargo{in his visit},his gross minprouncements on Buddhism in Crossing the Threshold of Hope,and his incorrect judgement of Islam in the same volume..Mr weigel had great access,and sadly,chooses only to present his own views.The first part of the book, is the best. The treatment of archbishop Romero[extensively examined in both Tad Szulac 's and Jonathan Kwitney's very sympathetic biographies} is of course,given a page and a half. Opus dei,the bugaboo of so many{what is everyone so afraid of,anyway?]is deemed too hot a topic,so it would seem. Altogether,another greatly missed opportunity to get deep inside this wonderful,contradictory giant.Taken together with Tad Szulac's workmanlike biography and Jon Kwitney's fun,error riddled bio,this is merely one part of a growing collection. Perhaps,one day, a true critical historian will take full amesure of this man, when the cult of personality has waned. That day had not yet come.A HUGE DISSAPOINTMENT!!!!!!!!I could watch television if I want my information slanted . John Paul II is no Reaganite{nor is he a Rooseveltian }He is beyond that,and THAT is what is missing,that element of truth.
Rating: 
Summary: Huge subject which exceeds the reach of the writer
Review: One day, 20 years from now, someone will write a multi volumed biography of Pope john Paul II,similar to Gilberts magisterial[no pun intended] Churchill biographies, for example. When the historical dust has settled, there will be copious biographies of this pontiff. For now, there stand three: Tad Szulacs steady JOHN PAUL II, THE BIOGRAPHY,The Late j Kwitneys fun, readable MAN OF THE CENTURY{the only one written by a non catholic] , though poorly edited, its footnotes were often in error and this one from George weigel,WITNESS TO HOPE. Now, I fervently wanted to love this book. I find John Paul II to be the only SHakespearean character on the world stage, save for Mandela.A man with so many facets that he is almost round,he has captivated my imagination since his election in 1978. Each major[and minor] biography of him has been enlightenening in some way, and i thought this one would be ,well, something that it was not. I am so weary of people using nonfiction to get across their tired political views[left and right bore me equally]. Mr weigel, a right wing republican, has his own political agenda.Now with the success, he has his own little JPII cottage industry. Fine. I simply wished someone would get it done correctly,though it appears that only Tzulac of thge three biographers had the courage to take on the contradictions of this giant.{all three offer enourmous affection for the subject.} Now, then, to this book.At over 1000 pages, it has the heft of a tome. and Mr weigel takes his task rather seriously, so there was some promise,but...Perhaps Mr weigel is simply not a good enough writer to cover this subject{though by his pronouncements, he seems to THINK he is}. The man who emerges from this book is SO self assured, so forthright, so ceratin of Gods message for him {and therefor us} that he seems,oh, unreal, like a creature from central casting. Saying that JOhn Paull is a mystic is well and good, how does this affect the way he governs, as it were, the church at large? Does he look at the world through a poets or mystics[or both?]eyes, or that of a believing statesman? Does he really believe that everything he says and does is divinely inspired,leaving no room for the Holy Spirit to speak to others? Is he as intransigent as he apperas, or is that a front put on for public display? Why does he refuse to use a cane or hearing aid? Why the denial of parkinsons disease?In a world where fewer and fewer people care about the ever grwong chasm between haves and have nots, why is his the only consistent loud voice to bring nation states to task for their betrayal of the rights of the poor? How did growing up under the most hideous politcal philosphies implented during the 20th century affect his care for the downtrodden[after all, his audience in Poland is homogenous}?What oh what keeps him going in his 80's with parkinhsons disease , to manitain a schedule that would daunt just about anyone half his age? Is his charisma personal or one of office?Just how much influence does Opus Dei have with or over him,and why?{and after reading their literature, HOW?} Weigel sings the praises of the Reagan administration, though Tzulac and Kwitney both say that the Holy Father did not like RR at all,. John Pauls continual turn towards pacifism{blaming it on Bishop Tauran somehow is disingenuous }is brushed over, as are any encyclycal that does not meet Mr weigels political stripe. Sigh...its too bad,really. The access that Mr. Weigel had is unprecedented[and probably, a more seasoned journalist would have taken some of what the pontiff said with slighly less acceptance and enthusiasm], and he seems to really be interested in presenting his own poltical point of view as opposed to the facts...This book has been absorbed by many Catholics, and Weigel has become something of an expert on JPII. Well...Workmanlike prose,a good great story spoiled by the authors political slant and inability to go beyond his own narrow world view.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding study of the "Man of the Century"
Review: Professor Weigel presents a scholarly yet readable account of perhaps the most important spiritual figure and world leader of our time. Weigel's unprecedented access to Pope John Paul II is evident, as is his expertise in theology and philosophy (a first for biographers of John Paul). He focuses on the development of John Paul's thinking and beliefs, and how John Paul stresses the "imperatives of culture". At the same time, this is no hagiography: Weigel presents a fair and balanced portrait of a man who calls himself a sinner.
Rating:
Summary: Now This Is A True Biography Based On Open Access!
Review: This author did not waste his time and was not lazy in writing about this Pope of Hope. If you are a Roman Catholic you will enjoy the insight and may cringe about the foresight of what is revealed. If you are Jewish you will see the opportunity that is available now in coming to grips with reconciliation based on truth of history known only to sons and daughters of Abraham. The book is easy to read, follows in details and reveals as much as one can know about this man of honor, spiritual healing and forgiveness to those who hate him, tried to kill him and disdain his faith. Communists will see just how puny their ideas and philosophy are compared to what motivates and guides this man of God. In the end, like all good biographies you will learn more than you came to know about a simple but powerful example of a man called John Paul II. Excellent superb excellence.
Rating:
Summary: A legacy of solid, humble, and compassionate Christianity
Review: This authoritative biography was published twenty years after Karol Wojtyla became Pope John Paul II. It is an invaluable account of his pastoral career, in the Thirties, under the Nazis and Soviets, through his role in winning the Cold War and on into the Nineties. Throughout, the pope is portrayed as being steadfast in his insistence on human dignity. He masterfully turned an international conference on family planning from a focus on quasi-eugenics to a focus on the importance of strong, committed families. That is, his vision of people as minds and souls triumphed in that instance over the secular vision of people as mere stomachs and mouths. The research here is meticulous and seemingly exhaustive. One long footnote traces the troubled publishing history of one commentator's interpretation of one of Wojtyla's pre-papal philosophical tracts. Some encyclicals were more successful than others. Sollicitudo Rei Socialis could have been seen as an indictment of Marxist despotisms around the world, but it was instead slammed in America for its seeming moral equivalence between socialism and capitalism. He wasn't welcomed everywhere: indeed, he deserves credit for venturing into traditionally anti-Catholic countries like the Netherlands. The Sandinistas in Nicaragua tried to sabotage his Mass there, but he made a visual connection with the people anyway. And his receptions in his first two trips back to Poland were little short of rapturous. Weigel's accounts of John Paul's first couple of visits to Poland after his investure as Pope are just plain thrilling. These pilgrimages and the confrontations with Poland's communist masters are arguably the dramatic high point of his pontificate. Fortune rarely sees anyone to the door, as the quotation goes, but this pontiff has fulfilled so many hopes, and served so honorably for so long, that he deserved the proposed sobriquet of "the Great". Weigel's encyclopedic account of his life and reign is solid proof of that, and is unlikely to be superceded anytime soon.
Rating:
Summary: Pope John Paul the Great
Review: This authoritative biography was published twenty years after Karol Wojtyla became Pope John Paul II. It is an invaluable account of his pastoral career, in the Thirties, under the Nazis and Soviets, through his role in winning the Cold War and on into the Nineties. Throughout, the pope is portrayed as being steadfast in his insistence on human dignity. He masterfully turned an international conference on family planning from a focus on quasi-eugenics to a focus on the importance of strong, committed families. That is, his vision of people as minds and souls triumphed in that instance over the secular vision of people as mere stomachs and mouths. The research here is meticulous and seemingly exhaustive. One long footnote traces the troubled publishing history of one commentator's interpretation of one of Wojtyla's pre-papal philosophical tracts. Some encyclicals were more successful than others. Sollicitudo Rei Socialis could have been seen as an indictment of Marxist despotisms around the world, but it was instead slammed in America for its seeming moral equivalence between socialism and capitalism. He wasn't welcomed everywhere: indeed, he deserves credit for venturing into traditionally anti-Catholic countries like the Netherlands. The Sandinistas in Nicaragua tried to sabotage his Mass there, but he made a visual connection with the people anyway. And his receptions in his first two trips back to Poland were little short of rapturous. Weigel's accounts of John Paul's first couple of visits to Poland after his investure as Pope are just plain thrilling. These pilgrimages and the confrontations with Poland's communist masters are arguably the dramatic high point of his pontificate. Fortune rarely sees anyone to the door, as the quotation goes, but this pontiff has fulfilled so many hopes, and served so honorably for so long, that he deserved the proposed sobriquet of "the Great". Weigel's encyclopedic account of his life and reign is solid proof of that, and is unlikely to be superceded anytime soon.
Rating:
Summary: New Insight
Review: This book is refreshing and enlightening and gives a true, unbiased picture of the man who is the Pope. John Paul II was and is a radical innovative leader of a 2000 year old Church, upholding the Truths of faith while calling for a new approach to deepen our understanding of our own humanity. It is an excellent read, beckoning one to a higher level of thinking and a deeper level of living. I strongly recommend it to all.
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