Part of "Major Conservative and Libertarian Thinkers Series", this book demonstrates how the popes - specifically John Paul II and Benedict XVI - have articulated a critique of the post-Enlightenment world, one that acknowledges the real progress made in modernity while simultaneously highlighting its political and philosophical shortcomings.

Since the dawn of the Enlightenment, modernity and the Papacy have experienced a difficult though never severed relationship. The Modern Papacy goes beyond the caricatures to demonstrate how the popes - specifically John Paul II and Benedict XVI - have articulated a sophisticated critique of the post-Enlightenment world, one that acknowledges the real progress made in modernity while simultaneously highlighting its political and philosophical shortcomings. Far from falling on deaf ears, the nature of their engagement with the modern world has sparked criticism and praise from Catholics and non-Catholics alike - sometimes in surprising ways. Whether the subject is faith and reason, religion and the modern sciences, the roots and future of Europe, or the origin and ends of human freedom, John Paul II and Benedict XVI pose questions that simply cannot be ignored, regardless of whether one likes their answers.

Gregg's work is a useful introduction to the thought of Wojtyla and Ratzinger and thus essential reading for anyone engaged in serious study of the present-day papacy.