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George Weigel




Weigel grew up in Baltimore, Maryland , where he attended St. Mary's Seminary and University, and he later received his masters degree from the University Of St. Michael's College in Toronto . Weigel has received eight honorary doctorate degrees, in addition to the papal cross ''Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice''.

Weigel lived in Seattle , serving as Assistant Professor of Theology and Assistant Dean of Studies at the St. Thomas Seminary School of Theology in Kenmore , Scholar-in-Residence at the World Without War Council of Greater Seattle, before returning to Washington, D.C. , as a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center For Scholars .

In 1986 Weigel founded the James Madison Foundation .

In his political writings, Weigel argues for a foreign policy of "moralism without illusions." His position is that the threat of evil in the world cannot be escaped, negotiated with, reformed, or constrained by international norms. Facing a world where "evildoers" still roam free, Weigel advocates a U.S. foreign policy guided not by moral notions about how nations should behave, but by moral reasoning. In some cases, he adds, moral reasoning may require that the United States support authoritarian regimes to fend off the greater evils of moral decay and threats to the security of the United States, which in his view is "the champion of all that is good and right."

Weigel tends to strongly support the teachings of the recent popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI , although he has differed with specifics of their opposition to war and Capital Punishment .

Weigel and his wife Joan live in North Bethesda , Maryland with their three children.


CONTRA CONNECTION ALLEGATIONS

Critics allege that while Weigel was president of the James Madison Foundation during the Reagan Administration it received funding from the federal government's U.S. Institute for Peace to monitor what it called "peace groups." Weigel was also a principal at the Puebla Institute. The Puebla Institute received U.S. government funding channeled through Weigel's National Endowment for Democracy to the contra front group Prodemca . Along with Carl R. Channell's National Endowment for the Preservation of Liberty (NEPL), both the Puebla Institute and Weigel's National Endowment for Democracy were important conduits for funds from the contra supply network coordinated by Oliver North . Also alleged is that the Puebla institute's investigation of purported Sandinista government religious persecution was conducted in close coordination with the CIA and its Contra directorate, and that Weigel worked closely with the institute's director, Nina Shea, on the investigation. Critics note the World Without War Council advocated U.S. military action to secure a Pax Americana , (as has Weigel.


PUBLICATIONS


Books

  • ''God's Choice: Pope Benedict XVI and the Future of the Catholic Church'', Harper Collins, 2005, ISBN 0066213312.

  • ''The Cube and the Cathedral: Europe, America, and Politics Without God'', Basic Books, 2005, ISBN 0465092667.

  • ''Letters to a Young Catholic'', Basic Books, 2004, ISBN 0465092624.

  • ''The Courage To Be Catholic: Crisis, Reform, and the Future of the Church'', Basic Books, 2002, ISBN 0465092608.

  • ''The Truth of Catholicism: Ten Controversies Explored'', Harper Collins, 2001, ISBN 0066213304.

  • ''Witness to Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II'', Harper Collins, 1999, ISBN 006018793X.

  • ''Soul of the World: Notes on the Future of Public Catholicism'', Eerdmans, 1996, ISB 0802842070.

  • ''The Final Revolution: The Resistance Church and the Collapse of Communism'', Oxford University Press, 1992, ISBN 0195071603.

  • ''Catholicism and the Renewal of American Democracy'', Paulist Press, 1989, ISBN 0809130432.

  • ''Tranquilitas Ordinis: The Present Failure Promise of American Catholic Thought on War and Peace'', Oxford University Press, 1987, ISBN 0195041933.



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