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The Final Revolution: The Resistance Church and the Collapse of Communism
The collapse of communism in central and eastern Europe--the Revolution of 1989--was a singularly stunning event in a century already known for the unexpected. How did people divided for two generations by an Iron Curtain come so suddenly to dance together atop the Berlin Wall? Why did
people who had once seemed resigned to their fate suddenly take their future into their own hands? Some analysts have explained the Revolution in economic terms, arguing that the Warsaw Pact countries could no longer compete with the West. But as George Weigel argues in this thought-provoking
volume, people don't put their lives, and their children's futures, in harm's way simply for better cars, refrigerators, and TVs. Something else--something more--had to happen behind the iron curtain before the Wall came tumbling down.
In The Final Revolution , Weigel argues that that "something" was a revolution of conscience. The human turn to the good, to the truly human, and, ultimately, to God, was the key to the political Revolution of 1989. Weigel provides an in-depth exploration of how the Catholic Church shaped the
moral revolution inside the political revolution. Drawing on extensive interviews with key leaders of the human rights and resistance movements, he opens a unique window into the soul of the Revolution and into the hearts and minds of those who shaped this stirring vindication of the human spirit.
Weigel also examines the central role played by Pope John Paul II in confronting what Václav Havel called communism's "culture of the lie," and he suggests what the future role of the Church might be in consolidating democracy in the countries of the old Warsaw Pact.
The "final revolution" is not the end of history, Weigel concludes. It is the human quest for a freedom that truly satisfies the deepest yearnings of the human heart. The Final Revolution illustrates how that quest changed the face of the twentieth century and redefined world politics in the
year of miracles, 1989.
people who had once seemed resigned to their fate suddenly take their future into their own hands? Some analysts have explained the Revolution in economic terms, arguing that the Warsaw Pact countries could no longer compete with the West. But as George Weigel argues in this thought-provoking
volume, people don't put their lives, and their children's futures, in harm's way simply for better cars, refrigerators, and TVs. Something else--something more--had to happen behind the iron curtain before the Wall came tumbling down.
In The Final Revolution , Weigel argues that that "something" was a revolution of conscience. The human turn to the good, to the truly human, and, ultimately, to God, was the key to the political Revolution of 1989. Weigel provides an in-depth exploration of how the Catholic Church shaped the
moral revolution inside the political revolution. Drawing on extensive interviews with key leaders of the human rights and resistance movements, he opens a unique window into the soul of the Revolution and into the hearts and minds of those who shaped this stirring vindication of the human spirit.
Weigel also examines the central role played by Pope John Paul II in confronting what Václav Havel called communism's "culture of the lie," and he suggests what the future role of the Church might be in consolidating democracy in the countries of the old Warsaw Pact.
The "final revolution" is not the end of history, Weigel concludes. It is the human quest for a freedom that truly satisfies the deepest yearnings of the human heart. The Final Revolution illustrates how that quest changed the face of the twentieth century and redefined world politics in the
year of miracles, 1989.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published November 19, 1992
3 people are currently reading
62 people want to read
About the author
George Weigel
124 books154 followersAmerican author and political and social activist. Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center. Weigel was the Founding President of the James Madison Foundation.
Each summer, Weigel and several other Catholic intellectuals from the United States, Poland, and across Europe conduct the Tertio Millennio Seminar on the Free Society in Krakow, in which they and an assortment of students from the United States, Poland, and several other emerging democracies in Central and Eastern Europe discuss Christianity within the context of liberal democracy and capitalism, with the papal encyclical Centesimus Annus being the focal point.
He is a member of the advisory council of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.
Each summer, Weigel and several other Catholic intellectuals from the United States, Poland, and across Europe conduct the Tertio Millennio Seminar on the Free Society in Krakow, in which they and an assortment of students from the United States, Poland, and several other emerging democracies in Central and Eastern Europe discuss Christianity within the context of liberal democracy and capitalism, with the papal encyclical Centesimus Annus being the focal point.
He is a member of the advisory council of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 13, 2022
I have loved this book. I wanted to read it for a long time because I sensed its relevancy. Not that I consider communism or even Marxism to be the primary threat against the church in modern society, but because everywhere the church exists, it must in some way be a Resistance Church.
I loved learning more about the actors in a geography and time of history that I really knew very little about. Looking primarily at the examples of the church in Poland and Czechoslovakia, Weigel paints a robust picture of how various Catholic leaders navigated the oppressive, atheistic governments of their countries, and how the whole system was connected.
The first and final chapters of the book were the best. Weigel laid out how Marxism is essentially a religion of politics--a belief system that is growing prevalent in these post-Christian societies of ours. And the response of the Church to this supremely mundane and fatalistic religion is simply to stand firm on its transcendent humanism: that there is more to life than this earth and its politics, that humans have a transcendent origin and an eternal destiny. The greatest witness of the Church against the oppressive politics of any totalitarian government is not in our political organizing, but in the Eucharist: the material promise of a future "Millennium" where God is on the throne.
I loved learning more about the actors in a geography and time of history that I really knew very little about. Looking primarily at the examples of the church in Poland and Czechoslovakia, Weigel paints a robust picture of how various Catholic leaders navigated the oppressive, atheistic governments of their countries, and how the whole system was connected.
The first and final chapters of the book were the best. Weigel laid out how Marxism is essentially a religion of politics--a belief system that is growing prevalent in these post-Christian societies of ours. And the response of the Church to this supremely mundane and fatalistic religion is simply to stand firm on its transcendent humanism: that there is more to life than this earth and its politics, that humans have a transcendent origin and an eternal destiny. The greatest witness of the Church against the oppressive politics of any totalitarian government is not in our political organizing, but in the Eucharist: the material promise of a future "Millennium" where God is on the throne.
November 10, 2018
My reading of George Weigel’s “The Final Revolution: The Resistance Church and the Collapse of Communism” coincided with the reading of three other important books in close timing; namely
• “Healing the Heart of Democracy: The Courage to Create a Politics Worthy of the Human Spirit” by Parker Palmer,
• “God and Empire: Jesus Against Rome, Then and Now” by John Dominic Crossan, and
• “The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting up a Generation for Failure” by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt
The motivation to read these books has been driven by the disappointment with the state of disrespect and lack of civility in the politics of the day and an angry and divided populace across democracies of the western world. This lack of civility and anger has arisen at a time when religion is in decline and we have experienced the upsurge of social media and the anonymous, faceless keyboard warriors. There has to be an answer and an inversion of the attack on western democracies or we run the risk of permanent, irreversible decay. I recommend anyone seriously interested in preventing this perverted decay to read all of the above books.
Now to Weigel’s “Final Revolution” which is the principal reason for this review.
The confrontation between communism and Catholicism has been one of the great ideological and institutional struggles of the 20th century. The Second World War ended with the spread of Communist totalitarianism over more than half of Europe and other parts of the world. The conflict played out in all the satellite Soviet states. Weigel’s review of this history centres on Poland and secondarily Czechoslovakia.
Poland had been overrun, scourged and dominated by foreign entities for half a century, first for six years from 1939 under the Nazis and then to 1989 under Soviet Communism.
Recovering from this oppression through the practice of non-violence is one of the great stories of the 20th century. Two key players were Lech Walesa and the Solidarity movement and Cardinal Karol Wojtyla who was elected Pope John Paul II on October 16th, 1978. Poland is approximately 93% Catholic and the spirit of the people was lifted as one of their own became the first Slavic Pope to be elected.
The Bolshevik revolution was the first modern revolution that had made militant atheism and a virtual war against religion its official state policy. A brutal persecution of the church followed but in Pope John Paul II the strong arm of Stalinist oppression had come up against a true warrior and could no longer subjugate the people. At the heart of communism was a lie that dehumanised people into mere economic objects serving the State. Pope John Paul II put the defence of basic human rights first and foremost into the dismantling of the communist lie. Starting from his nine day tour in 1979 in which he gave 32 sermons to the Polish people it took a decade until Lech Walesa held the first free elections for the new democratic state of Poland to become a free nation again in 1991.
This remains one of the churches great triumphs of relieving an oppressed people and nation from the domination of a corrupt force. Pope John Paul II stands alongside Mohatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela as the greatest example of love, trust in humanity and nonviolence correcting injustice.
Much can be learned form studying the life and prolific writings of Pope John Paul II. George Weigel’s book is a great start to appreciating the magnificent contribution made by Pope John Paul II in turning the tide of history back to a righteous, human, fair and equitable path.
I thoroughly recommend this book. This history is of great importance when the reader reflects on what it may mean to today’s disturbed politics. Today’s leftists hold the same beliefs and ideology of the Stalinist regime and think an unfettered secular State will deliver a different conclusion. I respectively encourage them to look at the history of the 20th century. It is only through such an examination that insight and wisdom is gained.
• “Healing the Heart of Democracy: The Courage to Create a Politics Worthy of the Human Spirit” by Parker Palmer,
• “God and Empire: Jesus Against Rome, Then and Now” by John Dominic Crossan, and
• “The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting up a Generation for Failure” by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt
The motivation to read these books has been driven by the disappointment with the state of disrespect and lack of civility in the politics of the day and an angry and divided populace across democracies of the western world. This lack of civility and anger has arisen at a time when religion is in decline and we have experienced the upsurge of social media and the anonymous, faceless keyboard warriors. There has to be an answer and an inversion of the attack on western democracies or we run the risk of permanent, irreversible decay. I recommend anyone seriously interested in preventing this perverted decay to read all of the above books.
Now to Weigel’s “Final Revolution” which is the principal reason for this review.
The confrontation between communism and Catholicism has been one of the great ideological and institutional struggles of the 20th century. The Second World War ended with the spread of Communist totalitarianism over more than half of Europe and other parts of the world. The conflict played out in all the satellite Soviet states. Weigel’s review of this history centres on Poland and secondarily Czechoslovakia.
Poland had been overrun, scourged and dominated by foreign entities for half a century, first for six years from 1939 under the Nazis and then to 1989 under Soviet Communism.
Recovering from this oppression through the practice of non-violence is one of the great stories of the 20th century. Two key players were Lech Walesa and the Solidarity movement and Cardinal Karol Wojtyla who was elected Pope John Paul II on October 16th, 1978. Poland is approximately 93% Catholic and the spirit of the people was lifted as one of their own became the first Slavic Pope to be elected.
The Bolshevik revolution was the first modern revolution that had made militant atheism and a virtual war against religion its official state policy. A brutal persecution of the church followed but in Pope John Paul II the strong arm of Stalinist oppression had come up against a true warrior and could no longer subjugate the people. At the heart of communism was a lie that dehumanised people into mere economic objects serving the State. Pope John Paul II put the defence of basic human rights first and foremost into the dismantling of the communist lie. Starting from his nine day tour in 1979 in which he gave 32 sermons to the Polish people it took a decade until Lech Walesa held the first free elections for the new democratic state of Poland to become a free nation again in 1991.
This remains one of the churches great triumphs of relieving an oppressed people and nation from the domination of a corrupt force. Pope John Paul II stands alongside Mohatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela as the greatest example of love, trust in humanity and nonviolence correcting injustice.
Much can be learned form studying the life and prolific writings of Pope John Paul II. George Weigel’s book is a great start to appreciating the magnificent contribution made by Pope John Paul II in turning the tide of history back to a righteous, human, fair and equitable path.
I thoroughly recommend this book. This history is of great importance when the reader reflects on what it may mean to today’s disturbed politics. Today’s leftists hold the same beliefs and ideology of the Stalinist regime and think an unfettered secular State will deliver a different conclusion. I respectively encourage them to look at the history of the 20th century. It is only through such an examination that insight and wisdom is gained.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews