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.

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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.

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To Sanctify the World: The Vital Legacy of Vatican II

Publication date: October 4, 2022 Publisher: Basic Books From the publisher: A leading Catholic intellectual explains why the teachings of…

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Not Forgotten: Elegies for, and Reminiscences of, a Diverse Cast of Characters, Most of Them…

Publication Date: February 15, 2021 Click here to purchase Not Forgotten from Ignatius Press, click here to purchase it from Bookshop.org,…

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The Next Pope: The Office of Peter and a Church in Mission

Publication Date: July 7, 2020 Click here to purchase The Next Pope: The Office of Peter and a Church in Mission…

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The Irony of Modern Catholic History: How the Church Rediscovered Itself and Challenged the Modern…

Publication date: September 17, 2019 Publisher: Basic Books From the publisher: Throughout much of the nineteenth century, both secular and…

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The Fragility of Order: Catholic Reflections on Turbulent Times

Publication date: March 14, 2018 Publisher: Ignatius Press From the publisher: One of America’s most prominent public intellectuals brings thirty-five…

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City of Saints: A Pilgrimage to John Paul II’s Kraków

Publication date: October 27, 2015 Publisher: Image Co-authored by Carrie Gress From the publisher: “Karol Wojtyła, Pope John Paul II,…

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The Difference Easter Makes

It is sometimes hard to grasp just how profoundly shattering an experience the first Easter season was for those who lived it.

Articles

 

Roman Pilgrimage: The Station Churches

EPPC Distinguished Senior Fellow George Weigel’s new book Roman Pilgrimage leads readers on a unique religious and aesthetic journey to Rome’s most striking churches.

Books

Basic Books / October 29, 2013

Evangelical Catholicism: Deep Reform in the 21st-Century Church

Publication date: February 5, 2013 Publisher: Basic Books From the publisher: The Catholic Church is on the threshold of a…

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Practicing Catholic: Essays Historical, Literary, Sporting, and Elegaic

Publication date: November 1, 2012Publisher: Crossroad From the publisher: A series of reflections by a master essayist and scholar, these…

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The End and the Beginning: Pope John Paul II – The Victory of Freedom, the…

Publication date: September 14, 2010 Publisher: Doubleday From the publisher: “As March gave way to April in the spring of…

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Against the Grain: Christianity and Democracy, War and Peace

Publication date: April 1, 2008 Publisher: Herder & Herder From the publisher: Cutting against the grain of conventional wisdom, New…

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