A List of Papal Links
As one would expect from such a long pontificate, there is a tremendous amount of reading material available, and the Vatican website is easily the best place to start. The very idea of the Vatican being on the web may seem odd, but this particular site is pushing ten years old, and has gotten very good indeed. For example, the entire text of the Bible (NAB) is there, along with the new catechism. One will also find links to the curia, canon law, and materials from Popes from Leo XIII to the present.
But it is with John Paul II that we’re concerned at the moment. Here is his page. This Pope’s legacy will be embodied not only in the new catechism and revisions of canon law in accord with Vatican II, but also in his body of moral teaching primarily encapsulated in his encyclicals, of which some key ones are:
Centesimus Annus – A Hundred Years
Veritatis Splendor – The Spendor of Truth
Evangelium Vitae – The Gospel of Life
Ut Unum Sint – That They Be One
Fides et Ratio – Faith and Reason
The Pope has also written a few books two of which are:
Crossing the Threshold of Hope
The best biography to date is George Weigel’s Witness to Hope. But another key book is His Holiness by Carl Bernstein chronicling the Pope’s role in the defeat of the Soviet Empire. (As I posted this I also realized this is the 1,000th post on this blog. Clearly, I’m not writing enough.)
Update One more, here is the Pope’s Last Will.
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