{"product_id":"the-end-and-the-beginning-pope-john-paul-ii-the-victory-of-freedom-the-last-years-the-legacy","title":"The End and the Beginning: Pope John Paul II -- The Victory of Freedom  the Last Years  the Legacy","description":"\u003cp\u003eAs March gave way to April in the spring of 2005 and the world kept vigil outside the apostolic palace in Rome  the pontificate of Pope John Paul II  then drawing to a poignant end  was already being described as one of the most consequential in two millennia of Christian history.  With these words  world-renowned author and NBC Vatican analyst George Weigel begins his long-awaited sequel to the international bestseller Witness to Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II. More than ten years in the making  The End and the Beginning: Pope John Paul IIThe Victory of Freedom  the Last Years  the Legacy tells the dramatic story of the Popes battle with communism in light of new and recently disclosed information and brings to a close Weigels landmark portrait of a man who not only left an indelible mark on the Catholic Church  but also changed the course of world history.  When he was elected pope in the fall of 1978  few people had ever heard of the charismatic Karol Wojtya. But in a very short time he would ignite a revolution of conscience in his native Poland that would ultimately lead to the collapse of European communism and death of the Soviet Union. What even fewer people knew was that the KGB  the Polish Secret Police  and the East German Stasi had been waging a dangerous  decades-long war against Wojtya and the Vatican itself. Weigel  with unprecedented access to many Soviet-era documents  chronicles John Pauls struggle against the dark forces of communism.  Moreover  Weigel recounts the tumultuous last years of John Pauls life as he dealt with a crippling illness as well as the new world disorder and revelations about corruption within the Catholic Church. Weigels thought-provoking biography of John Paul II concludes with a probing and passionate assessment of a man who lived his life as a witness to hope in service to the Christian ideals he embraced.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44946574180405,"sku":"ByrdShop_038552479X","price":27.37,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780385524797_f56c13fe-78b7-4292-a093-c45665526ce0.jpg?v=1770199627","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-end-and-the-beginning-pope-john-paul-ii-the-victory-of-freedom-the-last-years-the-legacy","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}