From Publishers Weekly
Filled with images taken by photojournalist Giuliani, this tribute to the late Pope John Paul II is destined for display on well-appointed Catholic coffee tables. Accompanied by text from John Paul himself; the new pope, Benedict XVI; and Leonardo Zega of
Famiglia Cristiana magazine, the book cycles through the late pontiff's 26-year reign, calling particular attention to his extensive travels, which are listed along with his encyclicals and a chronology of his life. The photographs showing John Paul embracing children and at worship are among the most powerful in the collection. Other captivating images include one of the pope looking like a tribal leader in fringed vestments as he emerges from an Indian tent during a 1987 visit to Canada, and another of him sporting a construction worker's hardhat on a 1988 trip to Bolivia. Giuliani's photographs, many of which are being published for the first time, also capture the late pontiff at work, in meetings with world leaders and in vulnerable moments like the 1981 attempt on his life. Pope Benedict's contribution comprises reflections written at the 10-year and 20-year marks of John Paul's papacy and the homily he delivered at the pope's funeral. John Paul's charismatic appeal should make this visual memoir popular among Catholic readers.
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The writings in this book precede Ratzinger's reign as Pope Benedict XVI and reflect his long teaching career, which included 24 years as prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith under John Paul II.Three memorial pieces appear in
The Legacy of John Paul II, which is otherwise a commemorative album of photographs of the late pope that may be reckoned one of the finest in a crowded field because it firmly focuses on John Paul's public papal persona. Here he is among and before crowds, greeting dignitaries and ordinary people, exemplifying the suffering servant after his shooting and in the weeks before his death, talking with his would-be assassin, gracefully embodying the vicar of Christ. Ratzinger's contributions are assessments of John Paul's pontificate 10 and 20 years on from his election (1988 and 1998) and the homily for John Paul's funeral mass, and they are statements about the public pope, the homily most movingly so as Ratzinger repeats the injunction of Christ that John Paul both obeyed and pressed upon the rest of humanity: "Follow me!"
Ray Olson
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