wiegel – Madison Catholic Herald Archive (2001-2025)

At the point at which John Paul II began his papacy in the first volume of my biography of him, Witness to Hope, I borrowed some thoughts from Hans Urs von Balthasar and tried to explain a bit of the uniqueness of the papal office:

An impossible task

“To be pope is to take on a task that is, by precise theological definition, impossible. Like every other office in the Church, the papacy exists for the sake of holiness. The office, though, is a creature of time and space, and holiness is eternal. No one, not even a pope who is a saint, can fully satisfy the office’s demands.

The Catholic Difference

On February 20, 2013

George Weigel

The legacy of Benedict XVI

At his election in 2005, some thought of him as a papal place-keeper: a man who would keep the Chair of Peter warm for a few years until a younger papal candidate emerged.

In many other ways, and most recently by his remarkably self-effacing decision to abdicate, Joseph Ratzinger proved himself a man of surprises. What did he accomplish, and what was left undone, over a pontificate of almost eight years?

The Catholic Difference

On December 5, 2012

George Weigel

Using sacred language for sacred acts

It was just about a year ago that U.S. parishes began using the new translations of the Third Edition of the Roman Missal — an implementation process that seems to have gone far more smoothly than some anticipated.

Wrinkles remain to be ironed out: there are precious few decent musical settings for the revised Ordinary of the Mass; the occasional celebrant (not infrequently with “S.J.” after his name) feels compelled to share his winsome personality with the congregation by free-lancing the priestly greetings and prayers of Mass.

The Catholic Difference

On November 1, 2012March 16, 2023

George Weigel

What voting in conscience means

American political campaigns have never been for the squeamish. With the sole exceptions of George Washington’s two uncontested elections, every presidential campaign has seen its share of vulgarity, skullduggery, and personal disparagement.

The Catholic Difference

On September 6, 2012

George Weigel

The war on (little) women and other insanities

The Supreme Court’s minor mistakes have few systemic consequences. But when the Supremes make a big mistake, the error tends to seep throughout the entire political process, poisoning everything in its path.

That was what happened with the court’s 1857 Dred Scott decision, which intensified the passions and accelerated the dynamics that led to the Civil War — and to 600,000 Americans killing each other.