The Catholic University of America Press is honored to publish the English Critical Edition of the Works of Karol Wojty?a/John Paul II. Under the auspices of an international editorial board, the English Critical Edition will comprise more than 20 volumes, covering all of John Paul's writings and correspondence in the years before and during his papacy.

This collection is essential for several reasons. First, gaining access to the saint's writings has posed significant challenges. Except for official papal addresses and documents preserved and disseminated by the Vatican, St. John Paul's works have been published in a large number of different venues, often with limited dissemination. Many documents need a new translation. In addition, English-language audiences have faced the challenge—even in the case of published texts—of dealing with several languages, various translations, and textual idiosyncrasies.

The second volume of the series presents Wojty?a's lectures at the Catholic University of Lublin and his works on Max Scheler. This volume consists of three parts: Karol Wojty?a's lectures at the Lublin University from 1954 to 1957 (during three academic years); Wojty?a's articles related to the ethical issues discussed in the Lublin lectures; and his habilitation thesis on Max Scheler, from 1953, with other essays related more closely to Scheler's thought.

As was the case with Volume 1, Volume 2 also relies on the original manuscripts and typescripts of Wojty?a's works. These original texts were compared with the Polish published editions, and all significant differences between them have been marked in the scholarly apparatus. Some of the essays in this volume have never been previously published in English, while some others have never been published before.