Letters of Condolence

Richard John Neuhaus

May 14, 1936“January 8, 2009

I am deeply touched by the death of the Reverend Father Richard John Neuhaus. I have known him for more than ten years and learned to admire him for his zeal for the Catholic faith, his intellectual robustness, his courage, and his love of the Church.

Please accept my heartfelt condolences on his death, together with my promise of a continued remembrance of him at Holy Mass so that he will have eternal rest.

Francis Cardinal Arinze
Prefect Emeritus
Congregation for Divine Worship
and the Discipline of the Sacraments
Vatican City

As a reader of Fr. Neuhaus’ prose, I can honestly say that his facility with the language, his phenomenal sense of humor, and the depth of his insight will be missed in this nutty world where he made, and will continue to make, a difference. He loved so much, and one of his great loves was Cardinal Newman. Now both he and the cardinal will celebrate their life of love in the arms of their only true love, Jesus the Christ, our Lord. I share your grief, but also rejoice in their triumph.

Frank Arundell
Niantic, Connecticut

Fr. Richard John Neuhaus was my parish priest at Immaculate Conception Church in New York. We met every weekday morning at 7:45 to start the day with the Holy Sacrifice of Christ. His last (as it turned out to be) 7:45 Mass was not notable for any visible impediments. But when I engaged him afterward, instead of standing in front of me, flashing that famous smile and looking directly into my eyes, he was withdrawn and preoccupied. When asked what we could do to stop the impending abortion aggrandizement, he just shook his head and said, “Pray.”

Robert Bennett
New York, New York

Fr. Richard John Neuhaus will long be remembered as an outstanding figure in the intellectual and religious life of our country. For years he has been a guiding light”perhaps the guiding light”in presenting a coherent defense of Catholic principles and applying those principles to issues of public import. I will always remember him as a gracious man, whose warmth and humanity won the affection of countless individuals, Catholics and non-Catholics alike. But most important, he was also a man of faith, a person whose relationship with God shaped his life and death. May Fr. Neuhaus rest in a well-deserved peace.

Mgsr. Thomas G. Bohlin
United States Vicar of Opus Dei
New York, New York

Having heard of the seriousness of Fr. Richard’s hospitalization only two days earlier, I was preparing to catch a train to visit Sloan-Kettering to pray with him, when the call came that he had died. In the weeks since, I have reread my personal correspondence with him, which goes back nearly thirty years.

Long before I met him, his writings in Una Sancta began to open my understanding to a much wider vision of Lutheranism than my Pennsylvania background had provided. The teachings of Arthur Carl Piepkorn became real to me through Richard and his 1960s colleagues. It expanded even more in the Lutheran Forum Letter. More than anyone else, he became my mentor, theologian, and liturgical instructor. I intentionally adopted his style of speaking and writing as my own. When he left the Lutheran for the Roman communion, he remained a fellow catholic. His friendship was faithful, his theology vibrant, his writings intoxicating.

During a particular vocationally trying time he provided me with incalculable help and friendship, and I was always graced to think of him as a friend.

As no doubt all reading this feel, he was a special grace of God, not only to me but to more people than we shall know in this world. For now we share with Joseph Bottum the loss that he described as having torn the fabric of life, but we know that the hope he held with such bold confidence will enable us to persevere in our own callings until we see him with the Risen One in that kingdom of glory which he proclaimed all his life. May Fr. Richard, with all the saints, rest in peace.

The Right Reverend Aubrey N. Bougher
Bishop of the Northeast
International Lutheran Fellowship
Rosedale, New York

His was a unique voice for the Catholic Church in the public square. I believe that the first time I met Richard John Neuhaus was at a reception at the residence of John Cardinal O’Connor, who was one of his great admirers. Fr. Neuhaus, like Avery Cardinal Dulles, had the tenacity of faith with which many converts are blessed. The depth of his knowledge and the breath of his writings equipped him as an apologist for the faith in our secular age.

While I sometimes disagreed with the topics he emphasized, the manner in which he expressed them, and the tone with which he challenged those of opposing positions, I always knew that he loved Christ and his Church. Happily, his many remarkable writings will make it possible for him to continue his dialogue on faith in the public square. Be assured that this faithful son of the Church will be in my prayers at the altar. May flights of angels lead him to his rest.

The Most Reverend Edward K. Braxton
Bishop of Belleville
Belleville, Illinois

Richard John”as many Lutherans around New York City loved to call him”was an extraordinary thinker. I will never forget reading in the 1970s an article in a Lutheran newspaper titled “Neuhaus Is Pro-Life.”

I was then a young pastor in West Haven, Connecticut. I became immersed in biomedical ethics, and my interests now include just-war theory and the ethical side of food policy. Without knowing it, Richard John Neuhaus had spurred on a young pastor’s interest in ethics and social justice, and I still consult him often, along with First Things .

Dave Buehler
Providence College
Providence, Rhode Island

Laura and I are saddened by the death of Fr. Richard John Neuhaus. Fr. Neuhaus was an inspirational leader, admired theologian, and accomplished author who devoted his life to the service of the Almighty and to the betterment of our world. He was also a dear friend, and I have treasured his wise counsel and guidance. Our thoughts and prayers are with Fr. Neuhaus’ family, friends, and fellow clergy during this difficult time.

George W. Bush
Washington, D.C.

Richard John Neuhaus has been for me a friend or, rather, what a true friend should always be. He reminds us of what St. Thomas Aquinas says of a friendship always oriented to the ultimate good of the person, who is God himself. Please let his family know that I share with my whole heart in their grief and that his name, his teaching, and his smile will not be forgotten.

Rocco Buttiglione
Rome, Italy

I knew Fr. Neuhaus for many years and was privileged to call him a friend. He was an extraordinary scholar, writer, editor, and speaker; but more important, what he wanted to be”and what he became through a life so fruitfully lived”was a faithful man of God and son of the Church. His passing is a huge loss, but it’s a loss that will be filled by the people he inspired to the same kind of fidelity and excellence he personified.

The Most Reverend
Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap.
Archbishop of Denver
Denver, Colorado

Richard John Neuhaus was to orthodox Christians and other serious proponents of religion what William F. Buckley was to political conservatives: a lodestar of civilization, the repository of tradition, the judge, the person who selflessly defended the code of intellectual integrity. His articles were like dinner with a virtuous but amusing and well-educated friend. You learned so much. You were so inspired. You had such a good time. It is a source of grief that his work is not going to continue by his own hand.

Bruce Chapman
Discovery Institute
Seattle, Washington

We were deeply saddened to learn of Fr. Neuhaus’ death. His reach could be felt even in this small corner of the globe. For several years Fr. Neuhaus has graciously awarded grants from the Arthur Carl Piepkorn Fund for biennial conferences on late medieval theology, cosponsored by the International Seminar on Pre-Reformation Theology at Gettysburg Lutheran Seminary and the American Cusanus Society.

We are confident that his desire to encourage scholarship in an ecumenical setting that included diverse worship opportunities, both Protestant and Catholic, found fruition in these gatherings. All who were close to him should know that we share in their grief, as we do in their hope of the resurrection to new life.

Gerald Christianson
Lutheran Theological Seminary
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

I had never met Fr. Neuhaus but always felt, through First Things and a few personal notes from him, that I knew him well as a great teacher and someone who one could count on to write about the many problems that cause sorrow and consternation in the Church today. Fr. Neuhaus and I were in our respective seminaries at the same time; he for the Lutheran Church and I for the Diocese of Pembroke.

His father was an outstanding Lutheran pastor at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Pembroke, and, as Fr. Neuhaus once reminded me, it was his father and the then bishop of Pembroke, W.J. Smith, who got into a fight over papal powers. As a seminarian of Bishop Smith’s at the time, I read his tract “The Bishop Replies,” which was almost required reading for the diocese.

I was suprised to learn that Fr. Neuhaus had crossed the Tiber from such a strong Lutheran background. Faith, God’s gift to the willing, is like that. Fr. Neuhaus has left a strong magazine and strong editorship that will ensure its continuation.

Charlie Cahill
Ottawa, Ontario

May I add a heartfelt word about the loss of an old friend and frequent theological and political adversary, Richard John Neuhaus? I first met him when we both fought the good fight against the Vietnam War. We shared a tiny room in a non-chic hotel for a few days in Paris in October 1968, when we paid a pastoral call on American deserters. Later, his Naked Public Square and my Religion in the Secular City appeared at the same time. I reviewed The Naked Public Square in the New York Times , favorably. But since the religiously informed politics I wanted to see in the public square varied markedly from his, the two of us appeared a few times in a debate format, including one memorable encounter at Union Seminary. He called our duo “the Dick and Harvey Show.”

When Richard John Neuhaus organized the Hartford Appeal, I helped forge the Boston Affirmations, which (I thought) carried the debate forward. I am not sure he agreed that it did.

When Richard John Neuhaus entered the Catholic priesthood, I sent him a congratulatory letter. I had also become a bit more pro-Roman, but again our theological“political flavors differed. He leaned toward Ratzinger, I toward Gutérriez.

I always thumb through First Things and invariably find an article or two that I read, learn from, and usually disagree with”though not always. In any case I never missed perusing Richard John Neuhaus’ pointed and amazingly well-informed ponderings in the back of the journal. Most recently he has provoked me into plunging back into Chesterton.

As an editor and public intellectual, when did he get the chance to do all that reading?

I had not seen him for a couple of years, and I was saddened when I read of his death. As an unapologetic Christian liberal, I know my kind requires just the genre of intellectually high-grade criticism he has sent our way for years. We are all poorer without him.

Harvey Cox
Harvard University
Cambridge, Massachusetts

I still remember his look of disbelief when I told him that the legendary historian of American Catholicism, Msgr. John Tracy Ellis, ranked Richard’s entrance into the Catholic Church alongside that of Elizabeth Bayley Seton, Orestes Brownson, and Avery Dulles. Disbelief at first; satisfaction a little later when he whispered through the cigar smoke, “Did Ellis really say that?”

In my years as rector of the North American College in Rome, Richard was one of the more welcome visitors. He enjoyed staying at the college, he confided in me, because we had “real American ice machines.”

Our late nights of camaraderie were unfailingly enlightening and enjoyable, and as late as they may have gone, he was always there for 6:30 morning prayer and Mass.

The men relished his company. One of them remarked to me that he was the personification of the fides et ratio extolled by John Paul the Great. No one seemed more aware of the warts on the Mystical Body of Christ than Richard John Neuhaus. Yet no one loved the Spouse of Christ more passionately than he did.

The Most Reverend Timothy M. Dolan
Archbishop of New York
New York, New York

I met Richard John Neuhaus only twice, but he was a mentor nonetheless. My family migrated through Christianity when I was young: I was baptized Episcopalian, attended Evangelical and Pentecostal churches, and became a Catholic, with the rest of my family, when I was seventeen. I read the usual authors along the way”G.K. Chesterton, C.S. Lewis, and so forth. And I read Fr. Neuhaus.

Every young writer, I imagine, has his first intellectual magazine, whose essays and articles are devoured all the more greedily for being slightly over his head. Mine was First Things .

And long before I could quite figure out exactly what, say, René Girard meant when he talked about mimesis and the crucifixion, I was reading Fr. Neuhaus’ sprawling “Public Square” column every month and marveling at his mix of range and rigor and the ease with which he moved between esoteric theological disputes and the latest culture-war fracas.

Richard Dawkins likes to say that Charles Darwin made it possible to be an intellectually fulfilled atheist. Month after month, issue after issue, Richard John Neuhaus”through his writing, and also through the writers he cultivated”demonstrated to my adolescent and early-twenties self that it was possible to be an intellectually fulfilled Christian.

As with the best writers and thinkers, you didn’t always have to agree with him to appreciate the things that he did right: the depth and skill in argument, the breadth of subjects covered, and the verve with which he wrote. And above all, the spirit of urgency that permeated his work”the sense that the controversies with which he concerned himself really mattered, in an everyday sense but in a cosmic one as well. At their best, his essays and arguments achieved a grace to which all religious authors should aspire: They conveyed not only the truth that Richard John Neuhaus, priest and author, cared about the issues of the age, but that God himself cared about them as well.

Ross Douthat
The Atlantic
Washington, D.C.

Richard John Neuhaus will be remembered for the many stories he told, lived, and inspired. Davida Goldman, his assistant for over two decades who answered phone calls and triaged all the mail and messages that poured into the office, confessed that behind the scenes she was compiling a book titled He Said What! which could be the sequel to He Did What!

She will tell you of the time he pulled the emergency cord on Amtrak because he realized he was on the wrong train and needed to transfer. Russell Hittinger recounts with delight how after a long dinner in New Orleans, they scaled a cemetery wall and fumbled through the graveyard, just to do it. Fr. Maciej Zieba chokes up when he tells of a meeting between Fr. Neuhaus and John Paul II at Castel Gandolfo, an hour-long conversation of questions and answers that left them all stunned.

Monica Weigel recalls “Uncle Richard” demonstrating to the Weigel children “parachute jumps””his euphemism for cannonballs”into the lake at the cottage in Pembroke, Canada, and how he pinned them with a set of Canadian air-force wings after they succeeded. Fr. Neuhaus himself told us how, at a hotel in Tulsa in the middle of the night, he once mistook the hallway door for the bathroom door and ended up on an unforgettable adventure.

But did you also know how he could move to tears the young people he had gathered around a table on a Saturday night, not with a joke, but with a story of the glory of the high adventure of Christian orthodoxy, of the deep desire in the human heart to do something great for Our Lord, to throw away our lives for Jesus Christ?

His first love was preaching, and he did not waste an opportunity to raise our hearts and minds to those heavenly realities, as we sat around a meal with friends. For that, many of us who are pursuing lives in the footsteps of the Master he showed us are grateful. We love you, Father. Pray for us.

Vincent Druding
St. Joseph’s Seminary
Yonkers, New York

With a deep sense of compassion I have received the information of the death of Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, a brilliant theologian and faithful disciple of Christ. The loss of Fr. Neuhaus will be felt keenly throughout the United States and beyond. To all who mourn him in the hope of the Resurrection, I would like to express my compassion and to assure them of my prayers.

Stanis?aw Cardinal Dziwisz
Archbishop of Krakow
Krakow, Poland

With the death of Richard John Neuhaus, editor of First Things , arguably one of the most authoritative and influential journals of religion and public life in the world today, the pro-life community and the literary world has lost a great brother, a colossus, and a rare gem who tirelessly dedicated almost the whole of his prime to the task of educating and enlightening many through First Things .

He reminds us of G.K. Chesterton, C.S. Lewis, and John Cardinal Newman. I first met Fr. Neuhaus in September 2008. He asked about Nigeria and its people, and he donated a free subscription of First Things to me. A few weeks ago I telephoned, and then his low voice came: “Please pray for me. I am really very sick.” “I will pray for you, Father,” I responded. Little did I know I was speaking with him for the last time. I must tell you that I am really pained by the loss of this great, towering figure. But God knows why he called Fr. Neuhaus at this time.

Sonnie Ekwowusi
Lagos, Nigeria

I’ve been subscribing to First Things for three years, as well as purchasing an annual subscription for a close friend. I can only imagine the void that exists in your building with Fr. Neuhaus’ absence, and, while I’m sure he is free of pain and is rejoicing in the light of his Savior, those who remain bound on the earthly plane will grieve his passing for the time to come.

Around 1999 or so, I began a “dark night of the soul” journey and continue to this day on that sojourn. I happened across a copy of First Things , and I devoured the magazine, finding a bit of light on that day. As time passed I realized the help I received from reading First Things as I discovered authors who voiced the ideas that circled in my head. First Things was the drink of water that helped me sense God again.

I began sharing my copies with a close friend”and, having lost copies of First Things by loaning them to him, I decided to purchase a subscription for him as a Christmas gift. We have spent many hours discussing articles and thoughts as we read them each month. I find that when I pick up the magazine I embark on a journey of ideas and musings and continue to grow spiritually and intellectually as a result. Until First Things , I thought I’d never find similar sojourners and had almost resigned myself to a life of intellectual stagnation.

Tim Freeman
Kansas City, Kansas

I wish to extend my sympathy to you as you grieve the death of Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, and I want you to know of my prayers and thoughts at this time. I will remember him at Mass as an exemplary priest and a personal friend.

Many are grateful for the service that Fr. Neuhaus offered to the entire Church, especially through his work at the Institute on Religion and Public Life. Thank you for assisting him in his work. May the Lord quickly grant Fr. Neuhaus the joy of seeing him face to face. As I remember you also in my prayers, I ask you to pray for me and to join me in praying for priests and for vocations to the priesthood and religious life. May God bless the staff at First Things with hope and peace.

Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I.
Archbishop of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois

My most heartfelt condolences on the death of Fr. Richard John Neuhaus. May the love of God and his promise of eternal life comfort you in this loss. And I pray that God will reward his years of faithful service and dedication to the Church. May Jesus, through the intercession of Mary, grant you peace and joy.

The Most Reverend José H. Gomez
Archbishop of San Antonio
San Antonio, Texas

On behalf of the Ukrainian Catholic University community, I would like to extend our heartfelt expression of sympathy and assurance of moral solidarity to Fr. Richard John Neuhaus’ family and friends. I fondly remember Fr. Richard’s visit in July 2002. Fr. Richard has for years been on the honorary board of advisors of the Ukrainian Catholic Education Foundation. Our community is most grateful for his endorsement and solidarity. I have been a reader of his work for more than twenty years. Today I ask the Lord for his eternal rest.

The Reverend Borys Gudziak
Ukrainian Catholic University
Lviv, Ukraine

Richard John Neuhaus was installed as pastor of St. John the Evangelist in Brooklyn on the second Sunday of Easter in 1961. I sang in a choir of preseminarians for that event and returned most weekends through 1962. From him I caught “The Vision of St. John’s””the fundamentals of an inner-city ministry: great liturgy, property maintenance, door-to-door calling to gather parishioners, and late nights spent talking of the Kingdom and Jesus.

A list of all who lived and worked around Pastor Richard would be a long and colorful one. In those days there was only one place to be in Holy Week”St. John’s: the two-hour Easter Vigil, Richard’s long sermons at each day’s service, glorious singing (to Richard’s revised hymn texts and liturgical texts), and the hospitality of the gracious people of St. John’s.

I remember the Holy Week during which the church van died. I told Richard that, if he bought the parts, I would rebuild the engine. I think it was Mrs. Wolfhart Pannenberg who handed me wrenches as I lay under the van, replacing pistons and talking about why we all loved to be at St. John’s.

For a year, a chapter of the Bible concluded each day’s evening meal. The day began with lauds and closed with compline. Pastor Neuhaus taught me to pray and imparted a vision of life I would otherwise not hold dear. St. John’s was my real seminary.

By the liturgy of St. John’s I measured my worship classes back at school. I measured my homiletics classes against his sermons. I measured my systematic classes by what I leaned in late-night discussions. It would be my most formative year.

I came to his office to say thanks and goodbye. I invited his constructive criticism. His genius for analysis and criticism meant that I drove back to Baltimore devoid of self-esteem. But I recovered and, from 1974 to 1977 I, too, was pastor of St. John’s. Richard taught me to speak and to think like a priest of our Lord’s Church. What good qualities I have as a pastor I credit to him. He had agreed to preach at the fortieth anniversary of my ordination this June, but now, sadly, he will not. Rest eternal grant him, O Lord.

The Reverend Harvey W. von Harten III
St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church
Brooklyn, New York

I was taken aback recently when I received word of Fr. Neuhaus’ illness and realized that I had not met him in person or even corresponded with him. I thought to myself, Are you sure you haven’t? I have published a few letters to the editor in First Things , but that’s it. As a longtime subscriber and careful reader, however, I felt as if I had known him. I must speak for thousands in saying that. So this news is a blow to those of us who did not even know him personally”and yet surely felt that we did. I’m very sorry at his death and grateful for his life and witness. I wish all of you well at First Things . You have my deepest sympathy.

David Hein
Hood College
Frederick, Maryland

I have just learned with great sadness of the untimely death of Fr. Richard John Neuhaus. I wished to communicate to his many colleagues at First Things my sincere sympathies. I share a sense of loss at Fr. Neuhaus’ death, having read with great profit and pleasure, admiration, and illumination so much of his writing. He was a treasure within the English-speaking Catholic world, and beyond it.

The Catholic priesthood has lost, from its earthly ranks, an exceptional member, whose stimulating and enlightening presence I shall certainly miss. I have offered Holy Mass for the repose of his soul and for the consolation of those who mourn him.

Msgr. Séamus Horgan
Apostolic Nunciature
Bern, Switzerland

I was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, a great intellectual and leader of the neoconservative movement in the United States of America. He was one of the most important Catholics in public life and a tireless servant of ecumenism. The storehouse of writings produced by Fr. Neuhaus will continue to be a source of lively and creative inspiration for people of faith for many years to come.

Fr. Neuhaus was also a friend of Poland and the Polish people, supporting democratic change in our country. His passing is a great loss for all of us.

Lech Kaczynski
President of Poland
Warsaw, Poland

In the backwoods of rural Montana, the word came to us. Fr. Okorn, who is eighty-eight years old and failing with Parkinson’s disease, rallied to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for this reverend prophet of God, Fr. Richard John Neuhaus. We share your loss and will keep you all in prayer.

Michelle Jenkins
The Sycamore Tree Prayer Center
Swan Lake, Montana

It was with great emotion that we received the news that the beloved founder of your magazine, Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, was called from this world.

When we started our project three years ago”a Catholic magazine with news and high-quality articles on matters of Church and faith”we had good help from some other sources. Among those was First Things , with its tasteful and never-boring choice of subjects and texts. We have had some translated, with your permission, and we are extremely grateful for that, as are our readers. The remarkably sharp and witty comments from Fr. Neuhaus are something one never forgets.

The Editors
Katolsk Observatör
Stockholm, Sweden

Though I never met him, I admired him greatly. I cannot shake the sense of sadness at his loss. It seems a light has gone out, but, of course, it hasn’t. His wit and wisdom remain. I’m certain he now embraces the eternal first things.

Dan Kennedy
Human Life of Washington
Bellevue, Washington

It is a profoundly sad day for the world because it lost one of its best. I began reading Fr. Neuhaus back before he started First Things . In fact, I think I still have many of the old newsletters he produced. He came to my town of Tallahassee more than twenty years ago for a religion-and-society seminar hosted by Florida State University. Over the years, I wrote to him a couple of times, and he always found time to send me a personal reply. When he converted to Catholicism I wrote to congratulate him on catching up with me. He was one of several profoundly spiritual people who helped me return to God, and I thank God that Fr. Neuhaus was there to help me on my journey.

I’ve been a subscriber to First Things from the beginning, and I feel confident that Fr. Neuhaus has built a strong structure that can survive and thrive even after his passing. My deepest sympathy to all of you who knew him much better than I. It goes without saying that he will be sorely missed.

Spencer R. Lepley
Tallahassee, Florida

Fr. Richard John Neuhaus was one of those rare personalities who touched our lives from afar. I have always enjoyed reading Fr. Neuhaus’ “Public Square,” as it bore the fruits of a great mind which in turn helped enlighten ours. May I express my deepest sympathy to you, his friends, at First Things . May Jesus reward him now in Paradise for being a good and faithful servant.

Gregory Libera
Johannesburg, South Africa

Although many years have gone by since we last met, I have never forgotten his brilliance and my gratitude to him. In the 1970s, Richard John Neuhaus, Peter Berger, and Jim Finn invited my husband, Ivan London, and me to write a series of articles on Maoist China for the journal