The End and the Beginning: Pope John Paul II

Rumour has it that American theologian George Weigel has written a splendorous sequel to his biography of John Paul II – and it’s true.

 

The goal with this book –besides completing Witness to Hope, in which Weigel described most of Karol Wojtyla’s papacy and its vital course – is to tell the end and the beginning of, according to the author, “the most outstanding pope of the last five hundred years.”

 

The reading of a long book can hardly turn out to be more pleasant. The richness of Weigel’s vocabulary as well as the images and the not only historical but theological metaphors, with which he depicts the Pope’s life and his influence in history, make for a limpid and fluid text. All that contributes to feel that the author is guiding us through the fascinating trip of John Paul II’s legacy, since all the content of The End and the Beginning helps explain that the foundations of the continuity of mission by Benedict XVI – about whom Weigel wrote his fabulous God’s Choice – are to be found in an exceptional pope for Catholics and mankind.

 

The first chapters are dedicated to explain the ups and downs of the fight against comunism, particularly in the Pope’s motherland, and the extreme interest that Poland’s secret services, the German Democratic Republic and the USSR dedicated to Wojtyla since he was ordained. The abundant and rigorous documentation provided by Weigel helps develop a story, more like an adventure novel, in which the evil of communist regimes unfortunately abounds. The author uses this documentation in an extremely careful, meticulous, and convincing way. Nobody can deny that, from the very beginning, real socialism saw in Wojtyla a horrible enemy, which highlights his importance even more and shows the shrewdness of evildoers – not always compensated with the good intentions of the innocent.

 

The book materfully describes the relations of Pope Wojtyla with Paul VI’s legacy and, in particular with the latter’s Ostpolitik – a policy of coexistence with the well-known communist block. The Vatican intrigues, in which the reader discovers John Paul II’s bravery and cleverness – the man who kept the Ostpolitik makers in control of the Vatican structures for a long time while at the same time he opposed the tyranny he knew only so well – are subtly told and, in the end, the book vigorously vindicates Wojtyla’s position. The first two papal visits to Poland, the murder of Father Popieluszko, and the relations with Solidarity and the Polish regime are some of the extraordinary events of our contemporary history, portrayed by Weigel in a didactic and accurate manner that shows his extraordinary effort of intellectual honesty.

The “humiliation at the hands of evil,” as John Paul II had described the relationship of his hometown with Nazism, is totally applicable to the suffering of half of Europe under the communist oppression that, about halfway through his papacy, was going to end up in the dustbin of history and without the recourse of violence.  

 

Even so, the most extraordinary part of the book is about to begin. Weigel writes skillfully and interestingly about the trips during the last part of John Paul II’s papacy, the genesis of the World Youth Days, the reaction to the crisis of clerical sexual abuses revealed during the Long Lent of 2002, the Iraq War, and the interfaith relations, partícularly with the Jewish faith.

One of the most formidable aspects of this book’s second part refers to what the Vatican and the Pope did – it was not the same concerted effort – during the months preceding the Iraq War. Weigel seizes the opportunity to remind the reader how much has been written about the concept of just war – being himself one big contributor as well as others such as American intellectual Father Richard John Neuhaus. Without straying a bit from the Catholic Church’s Catechism, whose book might not be too far away from Weigel’s own bedside table, the author reveals the in and outs of the Vatican bureaucracy during those days – and this professional corps doesn’t fare well. This fact is particularly clear in the case of Archbishops Renato Martini and Jean-Louis Tauran, who went overboard abounding in the European Left’s discourse. The author emphasizes what would be unnecessary if only we were more enlightened about the doctrine of the Church. He also highlights that, while the Pope, aided by Joaquín Navarro Valls, kept himself strictly and exclusively to the religious realm almost to the end, others exploited the issue to play politics – and not always of the best of brands.

 

Weigel’s book is an extraordinary reminder and example of how the “establishment,” which is a permanent fixture in every realm and perhaps even stronger in the Vatican, should never be considered as the reflection of truth, but as a domain where interests coexist and where charity doesn’t always have a say.  

We find here once more, as it’s generally true about the book as a whole, that the body of notes and documented explanations is as overwhelming as it’s aesthetically presented. If Weigel’s work cannot be yet considered literature, it surely comes close to that definition. And if it’s not theology and philosophy, since it’s mainly history, one must recognize that this work includes a bit of everything in the right measure.

 

The Pope’s last years are gently but meticulously described, but the author doesn’t forget to rightfully criticize some attitudes such as the Pope’s excessive tolerance with Father Maciel or his lack of firm command when exercising his authority with certain church leaders – even with the American Episcopal Conference. 

 

In sum, Weigel has written a strong book, and so was also the man whose exceptional life the author tried to depict and who played a crucial role in some of our contemporary history’s most significant moments. For those interested in knowing about the personality of Pope Wojtyla, for example, young people or those of us who would like to remember him or celebrate his life, Weigel’s work is just a delicious, easy-reading gem.

 

Here are some last comments about the author who, showing his own intellectual and human quality, remains humbly in the background when telling this formidable history. In addition, Weigel is an extraordinary disseminator. He’s undoubtedly one of America’s most remarkable writers and historians of our days – one seeks to avoid using the word “intellectual,” so full of negative connotations for Paul Johnson’s fans. Along with former Lutheran priest, Richard John Neuhaus, Weigel is also one of the bravest defenders of life, tradition and Catholic thinking in innumerable books covering different issues: From Europe’s worrying present situation to the West’s reaction to jihadism. He’s still a contributor to the outstanding magazine First Things and he can be considered an integrated member of the movement widely known as neoconservatism.

 

The End and the Beginning is definitely a must-read book, penned by an intellectually attractive author and done so with a necessary and present-day purpose, not only due to the Benedictine continuity, but because of John Paul II’s impending beatification. It’s a comprehensive, rigorous, and full-of-surprises book, even for those who know John Paul II well; it’s a well-integrated and respectfully-presented body of work. If, in this time of crisis, the Spanish version isn’t made available soon, it might mean that publishers have already lost their mind. 

 

©2011 Translated by Miryam Lindberg