
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 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);Not Forgotten: Elegies for, and Reminiscences of, a Diverse Cast of Characters, Most of Them Admirable (2021); and To Sanctify the World: The Vital Legacy of Vatican II (2022). 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 ninety-one newspapers and magazines in five countries.
Mr. Weigel received a B.A. (Philosophy) from St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore, an M.A. (Theology) from the University of St. Michael’s College, Toronto, and is the recipient of nineteen honorary doctorates. In 2024 he was decorated with the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland, and has also been awarded the Papal Cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice, the Lithuanian Diplomacy Star, and the Gloria Artis Gold Medal of Poland’s Ministry of Culture.
Manners, Methods, and Greatness
George Weigel
Browsing Footprints in Time, the memoirs of Winston Churchill’s longtime private secretary, John Colville, I found a tale from eighty years ago…
Articles
Syndicated Column / February 5, 2025
Catholics, Hippocrates, and Reforming American Medicine
George Weigel
I am the odd man out in a family of medical folk. My maternal grandfather was a physician; his daughter,…
Articles
Syndicated Column / January 29, 2025
Joe Biden: When The Last Hurrah Met Catholic Lite
George Weigel
Four years ago, this column praised the courage of Archbishop José Gómez of Los Angeles, then-president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic…
Articles
Syndicated Column / January 22, 2025
From Doubting Thomas to Doubting Peter?
George Weigel
Ralph Fiennes is a remarkable actor. And if he wins an Academy Award for his brilliant performance in Conclave, this section…
Articles
Syndicated Column / January 15, 2025
Stacked Decks, “Conversations in the Spirit,” and the Catholic Future
George Weigel
Various cultures—English, Turkish, Chinese—claim to have invented the maxim, “The fish rots from the head down” (a favorite in your…
Articles
Syndicated Column / January 8, 2025
Jubilee 2025: New Year’s Resolutions and Resources
George Weigel
Jubilee 2025 began on Christmas Eve 2024, with the opening of the Holy Door of St. Peter’s in Rome, and…
Articles
Syndicated Column / January 2, 2025
Embassy Vatican: Some Demystifications
George Weigel
A change of presidential administrations typically leads to changes in U.S. diplomatic personnel abroad, especially at the ambassadorial level. This,…
Articles
Syndicated Column / December 18, 2024
Remembering Lance Morrow
George Weigel
The essayist didn’t lose game as he grew older: He got better, even as he deepened his reflection on two themes that helped define more than a half century of his elegant writing.
Articles
National Review Online / December 12, 2024
Books for Christmas – 2024
George Weigel
A friend told me recently that bookstores were making something of a comeback. I hope that’s true, because browsing bookstores…
Articles
Syndicated Column / December 11, 2024
“Luce,” Mascot of Dumbed-Down Catholicism
George Weigel
During his years as professor of fundamental theology at Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University, Salvatore “Rino” Fisichella was often cited by…
Articles
Syndicated Column / December 4, 2024
An Open Letter to JD Vance
George Weigel
Dear Senator Vance: As Americans celebrate a unique national holiday, the origins of which remind us that our democracy is…
Articles
Syndicated Column / November 27, 2024
Thomas Farr, defender of religious freedom
George Weigel
The bright line running through a distinguished career in the Army, the Foreign Service, the academy, and the independent sector is Tom’s conviction that the truth sets us free in the deepest meaning of freedom.
Articles
The Catholic World Report / November 13, 2024