Texts

Redemptor hominis, 1979

Gift and Mystery, (New York: Image, 1999)

Joseph Ratzinger, My Beloved Predecessor (Boston: Pauline Press, 2007)

Selected speeches and homilies of Saint John Paul II

 

Readings

01  Poland – The  Pope from a Distant Country

Gift and Mystery 1-40
My Beloved Predecessor 89-99
Pope John Paul II, Address to UNESCO, June 2, 1980.  Man's Entire Humanity is Expressed in Culture
Weigel, George. "John Paul II and the Priority of Culture." First Things, no. 80 (1998): 19-25.
Recommended:
Buttiglione, Rocco. Karol Wojtyla : The Thought of the Man Who Became Pope John Paul II. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1997. Chapter 1.

 

02  Poetry and Theater – Beauty, a Profile of God

My Beloved Predecessor 47-54
Pope John Paul II, Letter to Artists, 1999
Recommended:
Pope John Paul II, Roman Triptych, 2003
Pope John Paul II, The Jeweler's Shop : A Meditation on the Sacrament of Matrimony Passing on Occasion into a Drama. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1992.
Daniel McInerny, The Actor, 2014  

 

03  Philosophy – A Noble Task

My Beloved Predecessor 47-54 Recommended:
Pope John Paul II, The Perennial Philosophy of St. Thomas for the Youth of Our Times, Rome, 1979. Wojtyla, Karol/John Paul II.
Person and Community: Selected Essays, Catholic Thought from Lublin,. New York: P. Lang, 1993  

 

04  Priesthood –Steward of the Mysteries of God

Gift and Mystery 41-100 My Beloved Predecessor 77-87  

 

05  Vatican II – A Gift of the Spirit to the Church

Gaudium et spes 22, 24 Pope John Paul II, Vatican II Was Spirit's Gift to the Church, February 27, 2000  

  

06  What the new Pope Inherits                                  

Redemptor hominis, §§1-6  

 

07  Who is the Redeemer?                                                                          

Redemptor hominis, §§7-8 Dulles, Avery. Chrsitology. In The Splendor of Faith : The Theological Vision of Pope John Paul Ii. Rev. and updated ed. New York: Crossroad Pub. Co., 2003.  

 

08  Divine and Human Dimensions of Redemption     

Redemptor hominis, §§9-10  

 

09  The Church’s Mission and Human Freedom         

Redemptor hominis, §§11-12 Dulles, Avery. "John Paul II and the Truth About Freedom." First Things 55, no. August-September (1995): 36-41.  

 

10  Man is the Way of the Church                                 

Redemptor hominis, §§13-14 Dulles, Avery Cardinal. "The Prophetic Humanism of John Paul II."  In Church and Society: The Laurence J. Mcginley Lectures 1988-2007, 142-156. New York: Fordham University Press, 2008.  

 

11  The Twentieth Century: Progress or Regress?     

Redemptor hominis, §§15-16   Recommended: The Abolition of Man, chapter 3. Jacques Maritain, “Christian Humanism,” Range of Reason c. 14   

 

12  Do We Have Rights? Conscience and Religion         

Redemptor hominis, §17 John Paul II, “On The Value And Content Of Freedom Of Conscience And Of Religion,” Friday, 14 November 1980

 

13  Dynamic Restlessness and Man’s Supernatural Destiny    

Redemptor hominis, §18  

 

14  Prophet: Responsibility for Truth

Priest: Redeeming Action of the Sacraments

King: Christian Kingship and service        

Redemptor hominis, §19, §20, §21  

 

15  Mary and the New Evangelization                         

Redemptor hominis, §22 Gift and Mystery 27-31  

 

16  Conclusion: Anticipating the Achievements of his Pontificate

My Beloved Predecessor 3-45