George Weigel is one of those intellectual giants whose brain bandwidth gives him the prowess to say something profound on just about every topic. However, his specialty is the Catholic Church, Christian Doctrine, The Vatican, The Popes (any of them), culture, politics and politicians. Plus, commentary on where we’ve come as a society and where we’re going. So his new book that pays homage to people who’ve influenced him, is well worth the read. And to hear him talk about it, is well-worth listening to. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Weigel, New York Times best-selling author and Senior Fellow at Washington’s Ethics and Public Policy Center, discusses his new book, ”Not Forgotten: Elegies For, And Reminiscences Of, A Diverse Cast of Characters, Most of Them Admirable.” It’s a departure from his usual one-topic projects in that there are 68 topics, people, actually, (although one of them isn’t really a person). People like Fouad Ajami, a Middle East scholar; Vaclav Havel, former Czech president; Lindy Boggs, former U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See, and her daughter, TV journalist Cokie Roberts; and of course, Saint John Paul II, whom Weigel knew well and of whom wrote biographies. But beyond the book, Weigel gives his assessment of the newly elected President Joe Biden, who is only the second Catholic in history to be Commander in Chief. So, the discussion delves into the quagmire of abortion politics, and how Biden is getting heat from Catholic bishops over his promotion of something that is staunchly against Catholic teaching. What does Pope Francis think about Biden’s eschewing Church teaching? How will the bishops control what Catholics believe while the president journeys down quite a different path? These are all things in Weigel’s wheelhouse.
