Reviews for God's Choice: Pope Benedict XVI and the Future of the Catholic Church

The average rating for God's Choice: Pope Benedict XVI and the Future of the Catholic Church based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2008-08-30 00:00:00 Richard Cesaroni If you are looking for a book which is all biography on Pope Benedict XVI -- as I was -- you won't find it in George Weigel's God's Choice. If on the other hand you've read Weigel's masterly Witness To Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II, it's possible to see this book as its conclusion and transition to the new pontiff. At first, I confess I was a tad disappointed--not that I don't love JPII (I do!) but I bought and was reading this book looking for insight into his successor. But as I read and listened to the last debilitating days our Polish Pope spent on this earth in humble suffering, I was gently chastised, and the stage was set for the book's overriding theme, which is, come what may God will have His Way. And gradually I came to see the wisdom, even the necessity of such a beginning. Weigel is seeking to show through God's Choice how indeed -- strange and unexpected though it may have seemed to the world at large -- the selection of the Bavarian Cardinal as Pope was indeed Divine, and to do so he needed to set the stage. Roughly the book can be divided into thirds. The first third deals with JPII's last days, his death, funeral and the conclave. Gradually Cardinal Ratzinger is introduced by Weigel and event-by-event he is shown to be the inevitable, the only, if the somewhat reluctant choice of his church to be their leader--the reluctance being mostly on his side. As a scholarly, quiet, professorial sort of priest, Cardinal Ratzinger tried to retire home to his library in Germany several times during JPII's pontificate and was not allowed to do so. The middle third of the book provides a brief and rather unsatisfying biography of Pope Benedict. There are some amusing anecdotes, helpful spiritual insights and facts about the man himself. On the whole it is fascinating reading, but it only whets your appetite. My guess is Weigel plans a comprehensive biography of the reigning pontiff sometime down the road to complete the trilogy begun with Witness to Hope and continued here. But the little that I did learn about the man was so enlightening, inspiring, encouraging and suprising, it left me wanting to know and read him more! The book concludes with a discussion of managerial, liturgical and inter-religious initiatives PBXVI will probably undertake during his years as pope, some of which have already been proven prophetic. Highly recommended! So as not to make the review too long, I have included quotes from the book under the audio edition.

Review # 2 was written on 2020-07-04 00:00:00 Jerry Petty My review of "God's Choice" will not be entirely fair. After all, I had bought the book with expectations that it would be more directed toward the endeavors of the Catholic Church to reckon with a society that is rapidly becoming "post-Christian" than what turned out to be the case. Modern Western civilization, with faith in science rapidly replacing faith in God, has only vestigial elements of genuine Christianity left in its cultures. To label it a "post-Christian" culture is, in practices and values, quite accurate. But so far as the book being reviewed is concerned, it was a disappointment to me because of its very intensive discussion of political aspects of the Catholic Church. Much space was devoted to technical matters regarding selecting the new pope (Pope Benedict XVI), and the prevailing essence of the book was technical and political, rather than spiritual or theological. Other readers might think differently about the book. For the purposes of the book, it is probably a quite appropriate treatment of the transition from Pope John Paul II to Benedict XVI. My interests, though, were principally spiritual. Thus, I did not get from the book entirely what I'd hoped for. It would be highly unfair to fail to acknowledge that much was discussed about spirituality, morality, and the church's struggle to countervail extremely strong secular forces in the societies of the West. Thus, considerable spirituality was brought into the discussion. Of course, I need to confess to not being or having been Catholic. My guess is that most readers of this book are Catholic. I do, however, see the Catholic Church as being more effective at moving in opposition to the rampant secularizing of society than are most (liberal or moderate) Protestant churches. Thus, I consider myself more-or-less "pro-Catholic". For many Catholic readers, this might be an excellent book. The author is obviously highly educated, knowledgeable, and deeply interested in the Catholic Church and its success.