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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George Weigel Receives Honorary Doctorate from Ukrainian Catholic University

EPPC Distinguished Senior Fellow George Weigel received the third honorary doctorate ever bestowed by the Ukrainian Catholic University, prior to addressing the university’s commencement on July 6.

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George Weigel Awarded TOTUS Prize in Poland

On October 10, EPPC Distinguished Senior Fellow George Weigel was awarded the TOTUS Prize by the Work of the New Millennium Foundation, which is sponsored by the Catholic bishops of Poland. The prize, which was presented at a ceremony in Warsaw’s Royal Castle and televised nationally, was given in honor of Mr. Weigel’s work in “promoting the thought of Pope John Paul II.”

 

Spanish University Gives Honorary Doctorate to George Weigel

On November 14, 2007, Abad Oliba University in Barcelona, Spain, gave a Honoris Causa Doctorate to EPPC Distinguished Senior Fellow George Weigel.

 

George Weigel Named Distinguished Senior Fellow

On the unanimous recommendation of EPPC’s board of directors, EPPC is pleased to name George Weigel its first Distinguished Senior Fellow. “George’s new title is in recognition of his remarkable contributions to EPPC over the past two decades,” said William R. Burleigh, chairman of EPPC’s board.

 

HarperCollins to Publish New Book by Leading Papal Authority George Weigel

HarperCollins will publish a new book about the end of Pope John Paul II’s life and the beginning of a new era for the Catholic Church by George Weigel, Roman Catholic theologian and author of Witness to Hope: The Biography of John Paul II, which became an international bestseller upon its publication in 1999.