One of America's finest minds and most prodigious writers passed away yesterday morning in his sleep at the age of 72. Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, the founder and long-time editor of First Things, one of the best journals on culture and religion in America today, had been wrestling with cancer for years. It finally overcame him.
Michael Novak writes that "Father Neuhaus was the most consequential Christian intellectual in America since Reinhold Niebuhr. He was the most consequential Catholic since John Courtney Murray, S.J., and Fulton J. Sheen. He was a worthy successor in a long chain of great witnesses."
This video, and others which can be found here, gives a good sense of the man:
For more on Neuhaus go to National Review and scroll down. His name has graced many of the posts on Viewpoint, and his wit and his pen will be greatly missed.
RLC
