21,000+ Reviews
Bookshop.org has the highest-rated customer service of any bookstore in the world
Description
John Paul II was the first non-Italian pope in over 500 years, and the first Slavic pontiff in history. Shortly after his election to the papacy in 1978, he launched a series of visits to his native Poland, then in the midst of dramatic social changes that heralded the end of Communism. In this groundbreaking book, James Ramon Felak carefully examines the Pope's first four visits to his homeland in June of 1979, 1983, 1987, and 1991 in the late Communist and immediate post-Communist period. Careful analysis of speeches, press coverage, and documents from the Communist Party, government, and police show how the Pope and the Communist authorities engaged one another. Felak gives equal attention to John Paul's political and religious messages, highlighting how he astutely maneuvered between the rising hopes of the Polish people and the dangerous fears of a dying regime. The Pope in Poland recreates and explicates these dramatic visits that played a major role in the collapse of Communism in Poland as well as laid out a papal vision for Poland's post-Communist future.
Product Details
| Publisher | University of Pittsburgh Press |
| Publish Date | October 20, 2020 |
| Pages | 344 |
| Language | English |
| Type |  Hardback |
| EAN/UPC | 9780822945987 |
| Dimensions | 8.6 X 5.7 X 1.3 inches | 1.2 pounds |
About the Author
James Ramon Felak is Newman Center Term Professor in Catholic Christianity at the University of Washington and the author of At the Price of the Republic: Hlinka's Slovak People's Party, 1929-1938 and After Hitler, Before Stalin: Catholics, Communists, and Democrats in Slovakia, 1945-1948.
Reviews
In this fine book, Felak invites readers to refine and deepen their comprehension of this quartet of papal homecomings beyond the takeaway headlines and their narrowly political focus. Making effective use of archival documents housed in Warsaw, and a well-chosen selection of published primary and secondary materials, he argues that these pilgrimages should be seen as a coherent whole in separate phases best understood in Catholic religious terms.-- "The Polish Review"
James Felak's masterful study offers the most credible and compelling account to date of Pope John Paul II's early pilgrimages to his native Poland, momentous events that helped shape the course of recent Polish history. Felak makes an essential and enduring contribution to our understanding of the autumn of Poland's Communist regime, Catholicism's role in that regime's collapse, and the mind of a most remarkable pope.--Robert E. Alvis, Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology
John Paul through variously skewed political and cultural lenses. Utilizing The Pope in Poland as a springboard, scholars and theologians have a vista for uncovering the authentic mind and heart of John Paul II--perhaps for the first time ever.-- "Journal of Church and State"
James Felak's masterful study offers the most credible and compelling account to date of Pope John Paul II's early pilgrimages to his native Poland, momentous events that helped shape the course of recent Polish history. Felak makes an essential and enduring contribution to our understanding of the autumn of Poland's Communist regime, Catholicism's role in that regime's collapse, and the mind of a most remarkable pope.--Robert E. Alvis, Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology
John Paul through variously skewed political and cultural lenses. Utilizing The Pope in Poland as a springboard, scholars and theologians have a vista for uncovering the authentic mind and heart of John Paul II--perhaps for the first time ever.-- "Journal of Church and State"
Earn by promoting books
Earn money by sharing your favorite books through our Affiliate program.
Become an affiliate
