George Weigel

George Weigel is a Senior Fellow, John M. Olin Chair in Religion and American Democracy at the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC). A Roman Catholic theologian and commentator on issues of religion and public life, Weigel is considered to be a conservative Roman Catholic social ethicist." His areas of expertise include Catholic social teaching, religion and democracy, and just-war tradition."In the area of just war tradition and the present war in Iraq, Weigel departes from Pope Benedict XVI and his predecessor John Paul II's condemnation of the war. In proposing his position, Weigel writes for 'First Things," a journal edited by Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, whose views on the war in Iraq also contradict the Popes'.

With Robert Pickus, Weigel formed the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), "spending millions of taxpayers' money funding Nicaragua's opposition press." Weigel served as advisor for the U.S. Information Agency (USIA).

Affiliations

 * Project for the New American Century, PNAC, original signer
 * Emeritus Director, Institute on Religion and Democracy

Background
"A native of Baltimore, he was educated at St. Mary's Seminary College in his native city, and at the University of St. Michael's College in Toronto. In 1975, Weigel moved to Seattle where he was Assistant Professor of Theology and Assistant (later Acting) Dean of Studies at the St. Thomas Seminary School of Theology in Kenmore. In 1977, Weigel became Scholar-in-Residence at the World Without War Council of Greater Seattle, a position he held until 1984. In 1984-85, Weigel was a fellow of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. There, he wrote Tranquillitas Ordinis: The Present Failure and Future Promise of American Catholic Thought on War and Peace (Oxford University Press, 1987)." 

"From 1986 until 1989, Weigel served as founding president of the James Madison Foundation. From 1989 through June 1996, Weigel was president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, where he led a wide-ranging, ecumenical and inter-religious program of research and publication on foreign and domestic policy issues. From June 1996, in his present role as a Senior Fellow of the Center, Weigel prepared a major study of the life, thought, and action of Pope John Paul II."

"Weigel, who has been awarded six honorary doctorates and the papal cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice, serves on the boards of directors of several organizations dedicated to human rights and the cause of religious freedom. He is also a member of the editorial boards of First Things and Orbis, and serves as a consultant on Vatican affairs for NBC News."

"Weigel is the author or editor of fourteen other books, including Catholicism and the Renewal of American Democracy (Paulist, 1989), The Final Revolution: The Resistance Church and the Collapse of Communism (Oxford, 1992), and Soul of the World: Notes on the Future of Public Catholicism (Eerdmans, 1994). The Truth of Catholicism: Ten Controversies Explored (HarperCollins, 2001), and The Courage To Be Catholic: Crisis, Reform, and the Future of the Church (Basic Books, 2002). Weigel has also contributed essays, op-ed columns, and reviews to the major opinion journals and newspapers in the United States, and has appeared on numerous network television, cable television, and radio discussion programs. His weekly column, "The Catholic Difference," is syndicated to more than forty newspapers around the United States. Both his scholarly work and his journalism have been translated into a variety of western languages."

SourceWatch Resources

 * Marl/Louise Zwick, "Pope John Paul II Calls War A Defeat For Humanity: Neoconservative Iraq Just war Theories Rejected", Houston Catholic Worker, July-August, 2003,http://www.cjd.org/paper/jp2war.html
 * Michael griffin, New Pope Benedict XVI A Strong Critic of War", Houston Catholic Worker, Special Edition, 2005, http://www.cjd.org/paper/benedict.html
 * Daniel McCarthy, "Catholic Conservatives grapple with their church's Just war tradition," The American Conservative, 29 August, 2005, http://www.amconmag.com