
George Weigel
Distinguished Senior Fellow and William E. Simon Chair in Catholic Studies
George Weigel, Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, is a Catholic theologian and one of America’s leading public intellectuals. He holds EPPC’s William E. Simon Chair in Catholic Studies.
George Weigel, Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, is a Catholic theologian and one of America’s leading public intellectuals. He holds EPPC’s William E. Simon Chair in Catholic Studies.
From 1989 through June 1996, Mr. Weigel was president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, where he led a wide-ranging, ecumenical and inter-religious program of research and publication on foreign and domestic policy issues.
Mr. Weigel is perhaps best known for his widely translated and internationally acclaimed two-volume biography of Pope St. John Paul II: the New York Times bestseller, Witness to Hope (1999), and its sequel, The End and the Beginning (2010). In 2017, Weigel published a memoir of the experiences that led to his work as a papal biographer: Lessons in Hope — My Unexpected Life with St. John Paul II.
George Weigel is the author or editor of more than thirty other books, many of which have been translated into other languages. Among the most recent are The Cube and the Cathedral: Europe, America, and Politics Without God (2005); Evangelical Catholicism: Deep Reform in the 21st-Century Church (2013); Roman Pilgrimage: The Station Churches (2013); Letters to a Young Catholic (2015); The Fragility of Order: Catholic Reflections on Turbulent Times (2018); The Next Pope: The Office of Peter and a Church in Mission (2020); and Not Forgotten: Elegies for, and Reminiscences of, a Diverse Cast of Characters, Most of Them Admirable (2021). His essays, op-ed columns, and reviews appear regularly in major opinion journals and newspapers across the United States. A frequent guest on television and radio, he is also Senior Vatican Analyst for NBC News. His weekly column, “The Catholic Difference,” is syndicated to eighty-five newspapers and magazines in seven countries.
Mr. Weigel received a B.A. from St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore and an M.A. from the University of St. Michael’s College, Toronto. He is the recipient of nineteen honorary doctorates in fields including divinity, philosophy, law, and social science, and has been awarded the Papal Cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice, Poland’s Gloria Artis Gold Medal, and Lithuania’s Diplomacy Star.
The White-Martyr Cardinals’ Dinner
George Weigel

The conversation turned to those times when the Lord seems to be deaf to the pleas of his people—times not unlike what many Catholics experience today.
Articles
Syndicated Column / January 25, 2023
Cardinal George Pell: The Encourager
George Weigel

I know of few public figures who have displayed the moral courage George Pell displayed for decades as he defended and promoted the truth of Catholic faith.
Articles
First Things / January 18, 2023
On the Death and Requiem of Cardinal George Pell
George Weigel

The embodiment of Catholic fearlessness, Cardinal George Pell, has gone to his eternal reward.
Articles
First Things / January 16, 2023
Bob Andrews: A Large and Patriotic Life
George Weigel

He loved the United States and was the best kind of patriot: one who could recognize the country’s flaws and do whatever he could to fix them.
Articles
Syndicated Column / January 11, 2023
Parting Reflections
George Weigel

“God wishes to be adored by people who are free.”
Articles
First Things / January 6, 2023
The End of an Era, the Temper of the Man
George Weigel

The generations whose story ends with the funeral and burial of Joseph Ratzinger were something quite special.
Articles
First Things / January 5, 2023
The True Joseph Ratzinger
George Weigel

The key to the true Joseph Ratzinger, and to his greatness, was the depth of his love for the Lord Jesus.
Articles
First Things / January 4, 2023
Joseph Ratzinger, Doctor of the Church?
George Weigel

In remembering that conversation from a quarter-century ago, I cannot help but think that Ratzinger was allowing me a glimpse into his own deep interior life.
Articles
First Things / January 3, 2023
Mary, the Church, Christmas, and Jimmy Lai
George Weigel

Now, on Christmas Day, the nine months have been fulfilled. What began on the day of Annunciation is made visible…
Articles
Syndicated Column / December 21, 2022
Bishop Heiner Wilmer, this Catholic Moment, and the Catholic Future
George Weigel

One hopes that Pope Francis is also aware that the appointment of a man such as Bishop Wilmer as Prefect of the Doctrine of the Faith would throw into crisis the Synod on Synodality that has become the centerpiece of his pontificate.
Articles
The Catholic World Report / December 16, 2022