[was: Richard John Neuhaus near death]
The sad news comes from First Things editor Jody Bottum:
Fr. Richard John Neuhaus slipped away today, January 8, shortly before 10 o'clock, at the age of seventy-two. He never recovered from the weakness that sent him to the hospital the day after Christmas, caused by a series of side effects from the cancer he was suffering. He lost consciousness Tuesday evening after a collapse in his heart rate, and the next day, in the company of friends, he died.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. 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.
Funeral arrangements are still being planned; information about the funeral will be made public shortly. Please accept our thanks for all your prayers and good wishes.
After the jump, the text of the previous post in this space, and a personal reflection I sent to the Washington Times when it asked me for a comment upon his death.
[My full remarks to the Washington Times:]
When I was an undergraduate beginning to discover Christianity as an adult, there was Richard John Neuhaus, presenting a Catholicism that I found witty and intellectually engaging. After I converted to Catholicism, I considered him the coach of American Christianity's A-team, and read his monthly column far more attentively than I listened to any homily. Years later, when as a journalist I was investigating the Church's sex abuse scandal, he would phone me at National Review and dress me down for my reporting and commentary. Because he was a prominent priest who dined with cardinals and theologians, I don't think he ever fully appreciated the effect the filth and corruption of some bishops and priests had on ordinary Catholic fathers and mothers. He finally prevailed on Bill Buckley to order me to stop writing about the scandal, which was probably just as well, because it was tormenting me.Eventually I found the emotional toll of all the things I learned in my reporting so unbearable that my faith was shattered. When I left Catholicism for Orthodox Christianity, I wrote about the pain of that decision, and how I simply couldn't carry on as a Catholic knowing the things I knew about what had been done to Catholic children, and how little justice there was for them in the Church. Because I had been such a public Catholic for all those years, my leaving the Catholic fold brought me a torrent of criticism and derision. Imagine my surprise when Fr. Neuhaus responded in his column with a graceful farewell. I was touched, frankly, given the hostile words we'd exchanged. We never communicated again, but I saw that in his final column, he wrote again of my leaving Catholicism, not without a tinge of bitterness.
Whatever his flaws, he was a great-souled man, and his contribution to the intellectual life of American religion is hard to overstate. For many orthodox Catholic intellectuals, Fr. Neuhaus was the pastor of a virtual parish. He is literally irreplaceable.
[From yesterday]
Kathryn Lopez reports he has received last rites:
His friends and family are keeping vigil and he was administered last rites shortly after midnight. Fr. George Rutler, who gave him the Catholic Sacrament, says that "he is not expected to live long" and suggests "that it is appropriate that prayers be offered for a holy death."
Please pray for his soul, and his loved ones. Right now, whatever you're doing, if you are a person who prays, do pray. He and I have had our differences, but his contribution to the intellectual life of American religion these past 20 or 30 years, and to the good work of strengthening the bonds among Catholics, Evangelicals and Jews, is hard to overstate.
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O my Jesus
Forgive us of our sins
Save us from the fires of Hell
And lead all souls to Heaven
Especially those most in need of Thy Mercy.
Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace.
Max, thanks for your explanation.
Upon re-reading my comments I feel I went too far, especially under the circumstances. My apologies to Don, and to anyone whom I may have offended.
May Richard Neuhaus rest in peace, and may the Lord bless and comfort his family.
"Don't patronize me, Don Altabello. This was exactly the time and the place. If you disagree, deal with it. I loved and respected Neuhaus's writings for a very long time, and was troubled by the suggestion that we needed to pray for him as if everything he has already done for the Lord's work would not avail him at the end."
Treebeard, I was not patronizing you. I'm asking you to display a bit of social tact.
It is very telling that a farewell to Fr. Neuhaus turns into a discussion about the scandals and a hero-piece about the wonderful and sacrificial work of Rod Dreher. Dreher places himself in this piece as the one far wiser and morally superior to Fr. Neuhaus as if the esteemed priest was some cog in the the machinery of a wicked institution. This is inexcusable and atrocious.
I suggest that Rod Dreher do just an hour's research on the financial and sexual scandals among the Orthodox, but he would never do so, as that would not be nearly so self serving as continually bashing the Catholic Church as he so loves to do.
Take a moment if you are a praying person and pray for Rod Dreher, he needs your prayers far, far more than Fr. Neuhaus.
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