Father Richard John Neuhaus has gone to the Lord. My heart breaks with so many of you who loved and respected Father Neuhaus.
I feel privileged to have known him and to have had so many occasions to share broadcasts with him. His precise eye, deep faith, and unfailing eloquence in print and in speech will be sorely missed. But it is his laughter and wicked sense of humor-- all those long meals in Rome and New York that I will miss most. There is no one in the Church like him. May this great man of letters and priest of God, who fought the good fight for so long, rest in peace. Godspeed my friend.
Joseph Bottum, the editor at First Things announced his passing earlier today:
'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."
I can be reached at: raymond@raymondarroyo.com
