Popes are the Church’s chief shepherds. While some focused on governing the Church and addressing challenges from the world, others recognized their primary responsibility to proclaim and teach the Gospel. Author Alan Schreck calls these the “teaching popes” and John Paul II was such a pope, leading the Church and impacting the world with his witness and his teaching.
The encyclical letter has been, in modern times, the instrument for popes to express their most important teaching—teachings that have lasting value for the Church, and often for the whole world. Dr. Schreck invites the reader to become familiar with the encyclical letters of Pope John Paul II. In The Legacy of Pope John Paul II, Dr. Schreck breaks down more scholarly writing into accessible language. The reflection questions and suggestions for further reading at the end of each chapter help facilitate a systematic study of the central teachings of this brilliant but pastoral pope, who conveyed the truth in love.
Dr. Schreck includes chapters on

• Redemptor Hominis (“The Redeemer of Man” )
• Dives in Misericordia (“Rich in Mercy” )
• Laborem Exercens (“On Human Work” )
• Slavorum Apostoli (“On Sts. Cyril and Methodius” )
• Dominum et Vivificantem (“Lord and Giver of Life” )
• Redemptoris Mater (“Mother of the Redeemer” )
• Sollicitudo Rei Socialis (“On Social Concerns” )
• Redemptoris Missio (“The Mission of the Redeemer” )
• Centesimus Annus (“On the Centenary of Rerum Novarum” ) Veritatis Spendor (“The Splendor of Truth” )
• Evangelium Vitae (“The Gospel of Life” )
• Ut Unum Sint (“That They May Be One . . . “ )
• Fides et Ratio (“Faith and Reason” )
• Ecclesia de Eucharistia (“The Eucharistic Church” )

About the Author
Alan Schreck, Ph.D., professor of theology at Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio, is the author of numerous books, including The Legacy of Pope John Paul II: The Central Teaching of His 14 Encyclical Letters, Catholic and Christian, The Essential Catholic Catechism, Catholic and Christian for Young Adults,and Vatican II: The Crisis and the Promise.