 At the time of his death, Maritain was arguably the best known Catholic philosopher in the world. The breadth of his philosophical work, his influence in the social philosophy of the Catholic Church, and his ardent defenses of human rights made him one of the central figures of his times. His writings influenced a range of figures, from Thomas Merton, Yves Simon, and Gabriel Marcel (with whom, however, he was later estranged), to Saul Alinksy, Martin Luther King, Paul Martin, and Eduardo Frei in politics, to artists such as Bernanos, Julien Green, and Lourié, and to Popes John XXIII and Paul VI (the latter having translated two of Maritain’s books into Italian, and who honored Maritain by presenting the “Message to Men of Thought and Science” to him at the close of the Second Vatican Council, in 1965).