Personal reflections or a public man.
Patrick Novecosky, award-winning author of “100 Ways John Paul II Changed the World," joins Michael for a wide-ranging conversation about the life, work, and legacy of the man born Karol Józef Wojtyła, who died after serving as Pope for 27 years. Patrick, who met John Paul II five times, shares reflections of their personal encounters, how the Pontiff altered the papacy and placed it on the world stage, his crucial role in the fall of the Iron Curtain, and even shaved time off Patrick’s time in a marathon.
Their mutual admiration for John Paul II’s prolific and impactful writings on economics, political philosophy, foreign affairs, communism, free markets, trade unions, and humanity as image-bearing is punctuated with laughter, somber reflections on the day of his shooting, and thankfulness for the Pontiff’s many gifts to the world.
Works Cited
“100 Ways John Paul II Changed the World”
"Laborem Exercens” (1981)
“Centisimus Annus,” (1991)
“Evangelium Vitae” (1995)
"B-O-O-G-A-L-O-O" (2010) by the Diplomats of Solid Sound is used by license. Scheduling by Josie Risinger
Post-production by Andrew Brinkmann
(c) 2025, Faithful Presence, all rights reserved
You can also view the video version on our YouTube channel.
We have many great episodes already recorded, edited, and ready to go. In the coming weeks, we will feature:
Dr. Josh Bowman (Ph.D), Director of the Ciceronian Society and author of Imagination and Environmental Political Thought: The Aftermath of Thoreau (2018)
Rev. Dr. Stephen Presley, Ph.D, Associate Professor of Church History; Director, Research Doctoral Studies at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Senior Fellow for Religion and Public Life at the Center for Religion, Culture & Democracy (CRCD), and author of Cultural Sanctification: Engaging the World Like the Early Church (2024) and Biblical Theology in the Life of the Early Church (2025).
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