Posted on 01/08/2009 10:58:22 AM PST by tcg
Richard John Neuhaus, prominent Catholic priest and founder of the religion magazine First Things, died today after a short battle with cancer. He was 72.
According to a note sent out by Joseph Bottum, editor of First Things, Father Neuhaus died shortly before 10 a.m. at Manhattan's Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
In a post on the First Things blog after Christmas, Bottum reported that Father Neuhaus was diagnosed with serious cancer over Thanksgiving. At the time he said the long-term prognosis was not good, but that the priest would be undergoing outpatient chemotherapy treatment.
The day after Christmas, however, Father Neuhaus was admitted into the hospital after suffering a systemic infection caused by side effects from the cancer.
Bottom reported that Father Neuhaus never recovered from the infection, and on Tuesday evening he "lost consciousness ... after a collapse in his heart rate, and the next day, in the company of friends, he died." Father George Rutler had administered the sacrament of last rights just after midnight on Tuesday.
"My tears are not for him," wrote Bottum, "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 have not been announced.
(Excerpt) Read more at catholic.org ...
Thanks for putting this in Breaking News. It’s where it belongs.
I’m sure he’s in the loving arms of the Lord. He was such a strong, faithful figure in the Church.
A great man.
He was definitely one of the greats.
Are you familiar with Newman’s poem, The Dream of Gerontius, and Elgar’s oratorio setting of it? I knew Fr. Neuhaus was dying this morning and I kept thinking of The Dream of Gerontius. It’s very beautiful, and in addition, it sounds like he died a good death, that is, with all the comforts of the Church, the last rites and viaticum. God was good to him; and he, in turn, was a tireless worker in the Lord’s vineyard.
I’ve read First Things since 1991. I recommend it highly. Previous issues can be read online.
Fr. Neuhaus died much too young for all of us.
God bless Father Neuhaus. Here on earth, he'll be much missed.
A sad day for Catholics... a happy one for Father Neuhaus, as I am sure this giant man of reason is now enjoying the beautific vision of Our Lord:
Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine,
et lux perpetua luceat eis.
Te decet hymnus Deus, in Sion,
et tibi reddetur votum in Ierusalem.
Exaudi orationem meam;
ad te omnis caro veniet.
Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine,
et lux perpetua luceat eis.
(Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon them.
A hymn becomes you, O God, in Zion,
and to you shall a vow be repaid in Jerusalem.
Hear my prayer; to you shall all flesh come.
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon them.”)
From the Introit of the Tridentine Requiem Mass of the Roman Rite.
I'm not sure we were ready for his absence, however. He shall be missed.
********
"Well done, good and faithful servant of God"
May the extraordinary peace, known only through the great love of God in Christ, bring comfort, consolation, and healing to family, loved ones, and the extended family of God in Christ in an hour of loss.
May the celebration of this life be rich in remembrance of his days and deeds committed to the glory of God in the earth.
While I am not Catholic, this loss is right up there with the earlier loss of Paul Weyrich. The great minds are departing....
The Lord is cutting us off from our teachers, perhaps to see if we’ve learned our lessons. Or perhaps He is planning to clean house and wants His trusted servants out of the way.
RIP Fr. Neuhaus.
So true, MHG. The losses, coupled with the strong delusion that I believe has been sent, makes for “interesting” times, eh?
The belief that love can reach into the afterlife, that reciprocal giving and receiving is possible, in which our affection for one another continues beyond the limits of death—this has been a fundamental conviction of Christianity throughout the ages and it remains a source of comfort today....
The lives of others continually spill over into mine: in what I think, say, do and achieve. And conversely, my life spills over into that of others: for better and for worse. So my prayer for another is not something extraneous to that person, something external, not even after death. In the interconnectedness of Being, my gratitude to the other—my prayer for him—can play a small part in his purification. And for that there is no need to convert earthly time into God's time: in the communion of souls simple terrestrial time is superseded. It is never too late to touch the heart of another, nor is it ever in vain. In this way we further clarify an important element of the Christian concept of hope. Our hope is always essentially also hope for others; only thus is it truly hope for me too. As Christians we should never limit ourselves to asking: how can I save myself? We should also ask: what can I do in order that others may be saved and that for them too the star of hope may rise? Then I will have done my utmost for my own personal salvation as well.
-- ENCYCLICAL LETTER
SPE SALVI
OF THE SUPREME PONTIFF
BENEDICT XVI
TO THE BISHOPS
PRIESTS AND DEACONS
MEN AND WOMEN RELIGIOUS
AND ALL THE LAY FAITHFUL
ON CHRISTIAN HOPE
‘Strong delusion’ indeed! What else could it be that causes people to believe it is permissible to murder just born alive infants in the name of protecting the Roe v Wade court ruling?
May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed through the Mercy of God rest in peace.
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