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George Weigel's bestselling biography of Pope John Paul II, Witness to Hope, set the standard by which all portraits of the modern papacy are now measured. With God's Choice, he gives us an extraordinary chronicle of the rise of Pope Benedict XVI as well as an unflinching view of the Catholic Church at the dawn of a new era.

When John Paul II lapsed into illness for the last time, people flocked from all over the world to pray outside his apartment. He had become a father figure to millions in a world bereft of strong paternal examples, and those millions now felt orphaned. After more than twenty-six years of John Paul II's guidance, the Catholic Church is entering a new age, with its bedrock traditions intact but with pressing issues to address in a volatile and changing world. Beginning with the story of John Paul's final months, God's Choice offers a remarkable inside account of the conclave that produced Benedict XVI as the next pope, drawing on George Weigel's unrivaled access to this complex event.

Reflecting on John Paul II's greatness, painting an intimate portrait of the new pope, and boldly assessing the Church's current condition. God's Choice is an invaluable book for anyone seeking to understand the Catholic future, and the larger human Church will help to shape.

George Weigel is one of the world's foremost authorities on the Catholic Church and the author of the New York Times bestseller Witness to Hope: The Biography of John Paul II. He has written numerous other books, including The Cube and The Cathedral, Letters to a Young Catholic, The Courage to Be Catholic, and The Truth of Catholicism. A Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D. C., and a consultant on Vatican affairs for NBC News, Weigel's weekly column, "The Catholic Difference, " is syndicated to newspapers across the United States. He lives with his wife and family in North Bethesda, Maryland.