Faith According to Saint John of the Cross
Translated by Jordan Aumann OP
Foreword by John Cardinal Krol
Imprint: Wipf and Stock
Pope John Paul II (1920 – 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his death in 2005. He was elected pope by the second papal conclave of 1978, which was called after Pope John Paul I, who had been elected in August to succeed Pope Paul VI, died after 33 days. Cardinal Wojtyla was elected on the third day of the conclave and adopted the name of his predecessor in tribute to him. John Paul II is recognized as helping to end Communist rule in his native Poland and eventually all of Europe.
Jordan Aumann, OP is an American Dominican from the Central Providence who taught for several years in Rome at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas. Fr. Aumann is former editor of The Priest and has authored several books including Spiritual Theology and On the Front Lines. He is presently stationed at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C.
"The attraction to Pope John Paul II was an attraction no just to the human charism and magnetism of the Pope. It was an attraction to a profoundly spiritual human being, who lives Christ, radiates Christ, and resounds Christ. All of the speeches, homilies, letters and the encyclical "Jesus Christ the Redeemer of Man" are a proclamation of Christ--the Way, the Truth, and the Light. The Pope is, in name and in fact, an "Alter Christus--Another Christ" as well as the Vicar of Christ.
To help us appreciate this basic spiritual element in our Holy Father, the gifted American Dominican theologian Jordan Aumann, former Director of the Institute of Spirituality at St. Thomas Aquinas University, Rome, has translated the Holy Father's doctoral thesis on "Faith According to St. John of the Cross".
It is my fervent hope that the reading of this translation will help many not only to know God better, but to live His divine life--to that fullness of life promised by Christ."
-- John Cardinal Krol
Archbishop of Philadelphia (from the Foreword)