God's Choice

<p><strong>George Weigel's <em>New York Time</em><em>s</em> bestselling biography of Pope John Paul II <em>Witness to Hope</em> set the standard by which all portraits of the modern papacy are now measured. With <em>God's Choice</em> he gives us an extraordinary chronicle of the rise of Pope Benedict XVI as well as an unflinching view of the Catholic Church at the dawn of a new era.</strong><br/></p><p>When John Paul II lapsed into illness for the last time people flocked from all over the world to pray outside his apartment. He had become a father figure to millions in a world bereft of strong paternal examples and those millions now felt orphaned. After more than twenty-six years of John Paul II's guidance the Catholic Church is entering a new age with its bedrock traditions intact but with pressing questions to address in a rapidly changing world. Beginning with the story of John Paul's final months <em>God's Choice</em> offers a remarkable inside account of the conclave that produced Benedict XVI as the next pope drawing on George Weigel's unrivaled access to this complex event.</p><p>Weigel also incisively surveys the current state of the Church around the world: its thriving populations in Africa Latin America and parts of the post-communist world; its collapse in western Europe; its continued struggles in Asia; and the vibrancy of many aspects of Catholic life in the United States even as the Church in America struggles to overcome its recent experience of scandal.</p><p>Reflecting on John Paul II's greatness drawing on firsthand interviews to paint an intimate portrait of the new Pope and boldly assessing the Church's current condition <em>God's Choice</em> is an invaluable book for anyone seeking to understand the Catholic future and the larger human future the Church will help to shape.</p>