“[Pope Francis] is 78 years old and knows that his will be a short pontificate.” KnowsYearsPope Author:George Weigel
“Perhaps the dumbest of these story lines is that [Pope] Francis has re-opened conversation and debate in a Church that had been closed and claustrophobic for 35 years under John Paul II and Benedict XVI. I defy anyone who, over the last 35 years, has spent time on the campuses of Notre Dame or Georgetown, or who has read the National Catholic Reporter, or who has gone to a meeting of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, to make that claim without experiencing a twinge of conscience that says, "I should wash my mouth out with soap."” ShouldYearsStoriesLastsChurchReligiousLinesGoneConversationMouthsConscienceClaimsCatholicMeetingsDebateReportersPopeConferencesSoapCampusDamesJohn PaulNotre DameJohn Paul IiGeorgetownBenedict Xvi Author:George Weigel
“These [conservative] people, if they're Americans, look back on the last 35 years of our ecclesial experience and take heart from that. The dramatic reform of seminaries continues. The priests and bishops who take their pastoral model from John Paul II will continue to do so, perhaps learning a lesson or two from Francis along the way - and they'll be the overwhelming majority of the Church's ordained ministers ten, twenty, thirty years from now.” PeopleIfsWayYearsLooksHeartTwoLastsChurchLessonsTenModelsTwentiesMajorityConservativeReformMinistersDramaticThirtyPriestsOverwhelmingBishopsThirty YearsJohn PaulLearning LessonsJohn Paul Ii Author:George Weigel
“The Church in the United States turned a corner about three decades ago, and the idea that we're going back to the incoherence of the late Sixties and Seventies is, frankly, silly. Let's have a little faith in what the Holy Spirit has done among us these past 35 years.” YearsLittlesIdeasStatesDonePastSpiritThreeChurchUnitedUnited StatesHolyLateCornersDecadesSillyHoly SpiritSixtySeventiesLittle FaithIncoherenceHave A Little Faith Author:George Weigel
“The impact remains to be seen; I don't think we can measure the enduring impact of John Paul II, for example, for another hundred, perhaps two hundred, years.” ThinkingYearsTwoExampleHundredRemainsImpactEndureJohn PaulJohn Paul Ii Author:George Weigel
