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Rating: 
Summary: The Pope you have never seen!
Review: Ambassador Flynn presents an incredible view of the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II. Their relationship started not with President Clinton tapping Flynn as Ambassador to the Holy See, but rather 30 years before, in Boston with Cardinal Cushin and Cardinal Wojtya. It is an inspring volume of the relationship between the Vicar of Christ and a representitive of the United States government. But even more inspiring, that of a Catholic family man and a true priest of God. Anyone who wants a view of the Pope that has never really been explored would be foolish to ignore this book. It would also serve as a beautiful compliment to George Weigal's Witness to Hope!
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Summary: A fine portrait of the Man of the Century
Review: Ambassador Flynn's memoir of the 264th Bishop of Rome is admirably done. It is a warmly affectionate, up-close, well-informed, down-to-earth readable series of vignettes dating from 1969 to the Jubilee Year. Ambassador Flynn has an advantage over other commentators who might be imprisoned in their political dichotomies or perpetually harking back to more "progressive" days: he understands John Paul II, and he understands Catholicism. We see Flynn's first encounter with Cardinal Wojtyla in a Polish Church in South Boston; we see the jubilation in Southie and elsewhere over Wojtyla's election as pontiff in 1978; we see the dismay over the assassination attempt in 1981 (Flynn was lecturing at a Boston community college at the time). But the great bulk of this unbulky tome deals with the ambassadorial years of Ray Flynn at the Vatican, and the Clinton administration's sometimes uneasy diplomacy with the Holy See. There is valuable behind-the-scenes material about the United Nation's Cairo Conference, and Flynn's delicately persistent urgings that the Administration take a less nihilistic position. We see His Holiness the Pope in Central Park singing Polish Christmas carols; we see him in St Louis denouncing the death penalty, both for convicted criminals and for innocent children in the womb. We see a man of courage, of conviction, of self-deprecating humor, and a man whose smaller gestures (toward the elderly, disabled, and aggrieved) have been recorded by Ambassador Flynn with an unburdensome thoroughness. We even have a papal footnote to St Augustine's memorable dictum that to sing is to pray twice! This personal portrait (we can call it a biography) should be read in conjunction with "Witness to Hope," George Weigel's admirable, but dauntingly mammoth, masterwork. We note that Weigel's work has not been greeted with approval in every quarter; and on that matter, might we quote Marianne Moore: "In connection with personality, it is a curiosity of literature how often what one says of another seems descriptive of one's self."
Rating: 
Summary: A Personal Portrait of the Pope from a Catholic Politician.
Review: Former Mayor of Boston and U S Ambassador to the Vatican, Raymond Flynn draws a very personal and intimate portrait of Pope John Paul II. Through the various events, incidents and celebrations narrated with meticulous detail and color, the personality of the Pope comes alive to the reader. The impact the Pope has had on the average American public is truthfully brought out. This book will be of interest to an American Catholic who would be able to identify the personalities from American politics and Catholic religion, at the same time can feel along with Flynn in his admiration for this man of God. Indeed it's a smooth and delightful reading worthy of the Pope as well as of the Ambassador.
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Summary: Personal and Political Portrait of the Pope
Review: I bought this book for the library I work for, because we have a large church going community. I read it, because I lived in Boston and my wifes' family is from Ray Flynn's home neighborhood of South Boston, better known as Southie. If you read Michael MacDonald's All Souls, this is a good balance showing the good side of Southie. It shows how Southie works politically, and how Ambassador Flynn got to know Karol Woytija long before anyone had a clue, he'd be Pope. No, you will not get a balanced view of the Pope here. (Then again, I was in Poland two years ago, and you certainly wont get a negative word there). There was a lot of humor and a lot of caring. When the Ambassadors daughters had to cook for the Haitian Prime Minister, because the staff had a holiday. Monsignor Monduzzi asking Ambassador Flynn, "how many relatives and friends DO you have?" I am thinking of writing the Ambassador. I want to know why he REALLY resigned. He is still in Southie. A fun book. Thinking of buying it for my father-in-law. Now, maybe I'll write a book about the Pope from the point of view of my family's friends in Poland....
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Summary: Outstanding Book!
Review: I have read many books about His Holiness Pope John Paul II, and this is by far the BEST book I have read about the Pope. It is very easy to read. Infact, once I started to read I could not stop until I finished the book. When I was done...I could not stop crying. Former Ambassador Flynn did an outstanding job in giving his reader a rare and personal glimpse of the Pope, that other authors who have written biographies about His Holiness simply cannot convey. I especially found the stories of the mother who lost her son, and when the Pope offered Flynn money stating it was not church money, but the Pope's own money to help pay for the medical bills of Flynn's oldest son very moving and touching. For those who have never met the Pope...after reading this book you will feel as if you not only met him, but have known the Pope as an intimate friend for years.
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Summary: Heart to heart
Review: I once dreamt that I was sitting in the Vatican gardens at a picnic table with pope John Paul II over a coke and sandwich, and we were having an intimate conversation. This book is the closest thing to that dream, because it gives you the opportunity to understand in-depth the very person of the pope, his human personality, through the thoughtful memories of someone who has had many personal encounters with him. Although I have never seen John Paul face to face (even in a crowd) I now feel as if I had developed a friendship with him. In 22 mostly short chapters, the former mayor of Boston and U.S. ambassador to the Vatican Ray Flynn describes all kinds of personal encounters with John Paul, each time revealing some aspect of his personality. These encounters spread over a period of thirty years. The book also helps the reader understand U.S. and Vatican politics, in an informal but very instructive way. The two co-authors have made the book highly readable. For someone like me, who is a priest, I also found food for spiritual life, during the flight from Boston to Taipei!
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Summary: Whitewash of a bad pope
Review: John Paul II is a publishing indusrty unto himself, Either his own dense,sometimes obtuse tomes or the cottage industry of mostly fawning books about his pontificate. Enter Ray Flynn,former mayor of Boston and ambassador to the vatican. Filled with anecdotes going back to Cardinal Cushing,this is a pleasant,undemanding read that somehow seems more honest in its admiration than George weigel's smarmy "official" biography.Flynn make no claims to objectivity,nor does he claim to be penning a critical biography. It is a memoir of a man and his time and his family, quite Irish in its own right. For the legion of JPII fans,this is wonderful. To the Legion of JPII detractors,more grist for the mill. For those of us in between,an enjoyable book.
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Summary: VIVA IL PAPA!!!
Review: Ray Flynn has taken from his many experiences with Pope John Paul II and put together a highly interesting read. This is not your typical biography, although each stage of the Holy Father's storied life is mentioned. This book gives you the Pope up close and personal, in both his public and private dealings. What an absolutely incredible man this Karol Wojtyla is!!
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