Pope John Paul II, an authoritative biography of the saint, John Moody, the former chief of Time magazine’s Vatican bureau, draws upon his deep connections in Poland and Rome to write Pope John Paul II. Based on interviews with Karol Wojtyla’s childhood friends and high-ranking members of the Roman Curia and his knowledge of the Vatican’s inner workings, he writes of Pope John Paul II’s triumphant journey to the Vatican. What do you think Pope John Paul II’s role in the end of communism was significant?
Summary of Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II proceeds chronologically and is only 185 pages. This tidy volume will appeal to Catholics and should also be of interest to people wanting to learn about the great man. Pope John Paul II tells of the painful deaths of his brother and parents to establishing an underground theater company in World War II; from his difficult choice between the stage and the priesthood to his complex and constant battle with Communist authorities in Poland.
Then we get to the Vatican itself and his controversial struggle to fashion the Church, Pope John Paul II shows with firsthand accounts a man who believes that the only path to salvation leads through the desert of human suffering. There are also many pictures to make reading the biography more interesting to readers.
Pope John Paul II is a definitive portrait of the Catholic pontiff that follows his prewar childhood and youth in Nazi-occupied Poland, decision to become a priest, rise to cardinal under Communism, elevation to the papacy, and continuing role as a spiritual and world leader. The author is also noteworthy.
About the Author
John Moody is a journalist extraordinaire. It is no surprise that he wrote Pope John Paul II. He served as the executive editor and the executive vice president of Fox News. He was previously the chief executive officer of NewsCore, the former internal wire service of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, as well as senior vice president, news editorial, for the Fox News Channel prior to that. It is worth briefly examining his life.
Moody was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Moody graduated from Cornell University in 1975, He began working for United Press International, serving as bureau chief for both Moscow and Paris. He worked for Timenext. He served as the Vatican correspondent and bureau chief for Rome (where he wrote Pope John Paul II), Latin America, and New York.
In 1992, Moody received the Inter-American Press Association Bartholomew Mitre Award for his interview with Cali cartel kingpin Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela. After that, he wrote on varied subjects, such as anti-extremism, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, madrassas, John Murtha, and the Olympic games. In March 2018, he retired from Fox News. He has written 4 other books.
Conclusion
Pope John Paul II is a tidy and economical volume that should be of interest to Catholics and non-Catholics who wish to learn about this great man. It was written by an experienced journalist, John Moody, who used few words and was very illustrative. If you want to learn about this saint and pope, Pope John Paul II is an excellent way to do it.
