Pope John Paul II: A Life in Pictures
Text by Henri Tincq, edited by Yann-Brice Dherbier and Pierre-Henri Verlhac. Power House Books (New York, 2005). 256 pp., $45.

John Paul the Great: Maker of the
Post-Conciliar Church
Edited by William Oddie. Ignatius Press
(San Francisco, 2005). 190 pp., $19.95.

From Pope John Paul II to Benedict XVI
Edited by Sister Mary Ann Walsh, RSM, With Catholic News Service. Sheed and Ward (Lanham, Md., 2005). 212 pp., $21.95.

The Legacy of John Paul II: Images and Memories
By Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI. Ignatius Press (San Francisco, 2005). 114 pp., $19.95.

Publishers continue to respond to the reading public's desire to commemorate and understand the life and papacy of Pope John Paul II.

"Pope John Paul II: A Life in Pictures" is a stunning collection that gains cohesion from an incisive introductory essay by French religion writer Henri Tincq. The photographs begin with Karol Wojtyla's childhood, adolescence and young adulthood, images that convey his early personal suffering and the harshness of the war years, but also happier portraits of the student, actor, young teacher and outdoor enthusiast.

The pope, Tincq reminds us, "is above all a priest, that is, a shepherd of souls" and so it is not surprising that, although Pope John Paul labored on a vastly larger stage, he retained his "unending respect" for St. John Vianney. A good way to view these photographs is to see them as a visual representation of Karol Wojtyla's pastoral heart. International travels were one expression of his shepherd's zeal and the photographs of enthusiastic crowds greeting the pope offer undeniable testimony to the true universality of the Catholic Church.

The essays that comprise "John Paul the Great: Maker of the Post-Conciliar Church," edited by William Oddie, were originally presentations made during a one-day conference on his pontificate, organized by the Chesterton Institute for Faith and Culture and held in Oxford, England, in October 2001. The book's tenor --- respectful and appreciative with only rare lapses into hagiography --- is appropriate for its purpose, which is to illustrate (as Tracey Rowland contends in an excellent essay) that Pope John Paul was "the authentic interpreter of Vatican II."

Uniformly well-written and cogently argued, the authors analyze Pope John Paul's theology and accomplishments, ranging from his Mariology, theology of the body, social teaching and support of new ecclesial movements. Some essays are descriptive and analytical (of note is Father Aidan Nichols' fine overview of the pope's encyclicals), while others, in their prayerful consideration, can serve as theological meditations. John Saward's "Recognizing the Rose" is less about the pope's large number of canonizations than it is a lucid presentation of the church's theology of sanctity and "the great solidarity of the mystical body, to see the church under the aspect of her sweetest name, the communion of saints."

"From Pope John Paul II to Benedict XVI: An Inside Look at the End of an Era, the Beginning of a New One, and the Future of the Church," edited by Mercy Sister Mary Ann Walsh, functions like a family scrapbook of the momentous events of April 2005.

The main body of the book consists of articles by Catholic News Service reporters --- journalistic writing that recalls the intensity of one pope's death and the election and installation of another. The chronological chapters, which include numerous quotes from both ordinary citizens and civic and church dignitaries, are interspersed with personal reflections by seven U.S. cardinals and Bishop William S. Skylstad, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The general reader will appreciate the chapters on Pope Benedict XVI --- his biography, outreach to other religions and a summary of the challenges he faces.

The book concludes with two interesting essays on media coverage of the papal transition and the pope's relationship with reporters. CNS Rome bureau chief John Thavis notes that, after the pope lost his ability to walk, he "had to be lifted and heaved ... in undignified fashion." Some reporters, "moved by these scenes, ... often chose not to write about them. The ailing pope probably would not have minded reading the details of his decline, however. He seemed to trust reporters, and journalists covering the Vatican cannot remember him ever complaining about a story or about his treatment in the press."

The strongest element of "The Legacy of John Paul II: Images and Memories" is the photographs taken by Giancarlo Giuliani of the Italian magazine Famiglia Cristiana. Among the most striking is a two-page photograph of the pope putting on a hard hat that had been presented to him by a Bolivian worker, a fitting gift for a pope who knew, in his own flesh, the costs imposed by manual labor. It includes telling, intimate glimpses of Pope John Paul as a pastor (embracing a child, offering Communion to the faithful), a man of prayer, and as a world leader acting from the certainty of his moral stature and authority.

The book claims Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as its author but he is, in fact, responsible for only 17 of its 114 pages. Four of these are taken up with a reprint of the homily he gave at Pope John Paul's funeral Mass and 13 pages are devoted to a reflective two-part essay (the second half is particularly sensitive to the pope's disability and suffering) written to mark the 10th and 20th anniversaries of his pontificate. This is an unfortunate hint of opportunism for a book that deserves an audience because of its remarkable photographs.

Rachelle Linner, a librarian and writer, lives in Boston. She has a master of theological studies degree from Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, Mass.