George Weigel's "The Irony of Modern Catholic History"

The Irony of Modern Catholic History: How the Church Rediscovered Itself and Challenged the Modern World to Reform, by George Weigel.
Basic Books (September 17, 2019) 336 pgs.

Throughout much of the nineteenth century, both secular and Catholic leaders assumed that the Church and the modern world were locked in a battle to the death. The triumph of modernity would not only finish the Church as a consequential player in world history; it would also lead to the death of religious conviction. But today, the Catholic Church is far more vital and consequential than it was 150 years ago. Ironically, in confronting modernity, the Catholic Church rediscovered its evangelical essence. In the process, Catholicism developed intellectual tools capable of rescuing the imperiled modern project.

A richly rendered, deeply learned, and powerfully argued account of two centuries of profound change in the church and the world, The Irony of Modern Catholic History reveals how Catholicism offers twenty-first century essential truths for our survival and flourishing.

• Catholicism’s long struggle with modernity, by Michael Duggan. Catholic Herald 11/07/19.
• With Bright Wings: George Weigel’s “The Irony of Modern Catholic History” , by Dwight Longenecker. The Imaginative Conservative 01/25/20:

  ... Whether you agree with all his conclusions or not, everyone who is concerned with the crisis in the Catholic Church today should take the time to read Dr. Weigel’s book in order to understand the historical background of the present situation. While it may not convince the pessimists or traditionalists, it will help many to understand the roots of the present crisis, and perhaps predict the church’s trajectory through the rest of this century.

• The Irony of Catholic History: An Interview with George Weigel, by John Turner. Anxious Bench 10/31/19.
• Ironies in the Fire, by George Weigel. First Things 09/18/19.