With the passing of Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, the United States and Canada, indeed the world, lost an exceptionally wise, wry and erudite Catholic voice; a voice whose special gift was to shed light and clarity on the most fundamental of Catholic principles and their application in today’s culture.
Fr. Neuhaus died peacefully in his sleep on January 8, at age 72, after having been hospitalized since December 26 for weakness caused by side effects of the cancer he battled. He died in the company of friends.
“My tears are not for him—for he knew, all his life, that his Redeemer lives, and he has now been gathered by the Lord in whom he trusted. I weep, rather for all the rest of us,” writes Joseph Bottum, editor of First Things, a widely read and respected monthly journal of Religion, Culture, and Public Life, which Fr. Neuhaus founded near the time of his conversion to the Catholic Faith and which he shepherded for nearly 20 years until his death.
Mr. Bottum continues: “As a priest, as a writer, as a public leader in so many struggles, and as a friend, no one can take his place. The fabric of life has been torn by his death, and it will not be repaired, for those of us who knew him, until that time when everything is mended and all our tears are wiped away.”
In the eyes of the writer of this article, the cultural influence of Fr. Neuhaus echoes that of the great Cardinal Newman, founder of the Oxford Movement in England, another Catholic convert who profoundly influenced culture through his writings, eloquence and holy life. Fr. Neuhaus has been a Cardinal Newman of our era. Formerly the Lutheran pastor of a large black church in Brooklyn, Fr. Neuhaus believed that religion belonged in the public square and that public life ought to be shaped by values found in the Gospel. He always believed it.
And he fought with all his energy, understanding and wit that it might be so. In this endeavor, his superior intellect was not bridled with narrow perspective. He had a gift for seeing the whole picture, and underlying causes, and for expressing and conveying these concepts clearly to others, generating discussion and communication—and a re-discovery of much common ground—among people of different faiths.
The number of individuals, from business professionals to parents to world leaders, influenced by Fr. Neuhaus’ prolific writings, talks, retreats and spiritual guidance is staggering. It cannot be numbered. As one Catholic Business Journal columnist, Tom Loarie, put it: “He was like the teacher. He articulated, very forcefully and clearly, issues that are fundamental to Catholics and he made them clear….Many of us are in the trenches, so to speak. We can go through life, observe, and have a gut feel for things. But someone like Fr. Neuhaus is so clear, so logical, that he is able to put that gut feeling into words. For years his writings gave a logical structure and framework for things that I’ve observed in my own life, making sense of gut feelings and observations. He will be greatly missed my many of us. It’s a great loss for our culture!”
Many more have written well and eloquently about the significance of Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, as demonstrated in the links below. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated for Father Richard John Neuhaus at the Church of the Immaculate Conception—414 E. 14th Street, New York City—today: Tuesday, January 13, 2009, at 10 a.m. In lieu of flowers, donations are requested for Fr. Neuhaus’ work, the Institute on Religion and Public Life, online at www:richardjneuhaus.blogspot.com or by mail to: Institute on Religion and Public Life, 156 Fifth Ave, Sutie 400, New York, NY 10010.
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Excellent additional articles on Fr. Richard John Neuhaus:
- Statement of President George W. Bush
- Richard John Neuhaus, 1936-2009, Rev George W. Rutler (a long time friend and the priest who administered Last Rites on Fr. Neuhaus)
- Richard John Neuhaus, 1936-2009: A gaping hole in the public square, by Joseph Bottum, The Weekly Standard
- Father Richard John Neuhaus: A Man Animated by His Faith , by Raymond Arroyo, Wall Street Journal
- Richard John Neuhaus, 1936–2009: An Honorable Christian Soldier, by George Weigel. Newsweek, January 19, 2009
- Neuhaus, by Ramesh Ponnuru, National Review
- A Tribute to Father Neuhaus, by Peter Wehner, National Review
- Remembering Father Richard John Neuhaus, by Rev. Robert Sirico, Acton Institute
- Fr. Richard JohnNeuhaus dead at age 72, by John L. Allen, Jr., National Catholic Reporter
- A second brother dies, by Michael Novak, National Catholic Reporter
- Father Richard J Neuhaus, online archive
- Fr. Neuhaus 1936-2009 – Like The Star of Bethlehem, Dies After Leading So Many to Christ, Top pro-life leaders pay tribute to memory of Fr. Richard John Neuhaus who died today, by John-Henry Westen, LifeSiteNews
- First Things, including photos of Fr. Neuhaus and more
- Publishers Weekly review of his book, “As I Lay Dying, Meditations Upon Returning,” Fr. Neuhaus looks at his own brush with death several years ago when a tumor ruptured in his intestines, “wreaking havoc on his body and plunging him to the brink of death.’
— Books by Fr. Richard John Neuhaus (click here to find books by Fr. Neuhaus)
- The Naked Public Square: Religion and Democracy in America (1984)
- Freedom for Ministry: A Critical Affirmation of the Church and Its Mission (1984)
- The Catholic Moment: The Paradox of the Church in the Postmodern World (198)
- America Against Itself: Moral Vision and the Public Order (1992)
- The Eternal Pity: Reflections on Dying (2000)
- Death on a Friday Afternoon: Meditations on the Last Words of Jesus from the Cross (2001)
- As I Lay Dying: Meditations Upon Returning (2002)
- Your Word Is Truth: A Project of Evangelicals and Catholics Together (co-edited with Charles Colson; 2002)
- Catholic Matters: Confusion, Controversy, and the Splendor of Truth (2006).
- The Theocons: Secular America Under Siege by Damon Linker, Doubleday 2006. Account of the rise of the “theocons” in which Neuhaus is the central figure; includes biographical information.
BOOKS BY FATHER JOHN RICHARD NEUHAUS MAY BE FOUND AND ORDERED HERE (CLICK).
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