Comments on: Richard John Neuhaus, 1936-2009

By: ashok

ashok — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 21:07:29 +0000

I owe Father Neuhaus a lot for First Things – I had read National Review all throughout high school, and so while First Things wasn’t a “conversion experience,” it did introduce me to a lot of things that I was happy to share with others, such as Leon Kass’ fine speech “L’Chaim and its Limits.”

My only regret regarding this generation that is passing away – I’m thinking of Buckley, Weyrich and others – is that we on the Right have created the media, but not really worked to find the audience. We might need to humble ourselves for the sake of a legacy given to us – instead of expecting readers to come to us, we might have to get into “the public square,” the “agora,” and practice what we preach.

By: James Currin

James Currin — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 21:33:30 +0000

The best testimony to a life well-lived is the testimony of such a large circle of Fr. Neuhaus’s friends. Nevertheless, an outsider to this circle may discern in their tributes a somewhat worrying thread of instability. The career of Fr. Neuhaus is more than a little reminiscent of that of another charismatic cleric of a couple of generations ago. I refer to the late Episcopal bishop, James Pike. His life was one of constant discontent with his religious faith, perhaps best exemplified by his chain-smoking—I seem to remember him with three lit cigarettes at one time. He came to a tragicomic end in the Israeli desert where he had ventured, with his young wife and a large bottle of coke to sustain him, in search of the origins of Christianity. When his rented car became lodged on a high center, and finding himself unable to penetrate the mystery of a car-jack, he wandered off in search of help, never again to be seen alive. His vigorous wife survived.

By: Steynian 306

Steynian 306 — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 20:52:34 +0000

[...] been politically much weaker and intellectually far less formidable”; Roger Kimball: “Richard John Neuhaus, 1936-2009” …. (nro, [...]

By: Steynian 306 « Free Canuckistan!

Steynian 306 « Free Canuckistan! — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 23:21:34 +0000

[...] been politically much weaker and intellectually far less formidable”; Roger Kimball: “Richard John Neuhaus, 1936-2009” …. (nro, [...]

By: Jeri Neuhaus

Jeri Neuhaus — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 15:41:19 +0000

The numerous articles, both kind and critical have helped me, one of many nieces and nephews of Fr. Neuhaus, see him as the public sees him. He will always be, to me, simply Uncle Dick. I will picture him sitting at the picnic table outside his cottage on the Ottowa River smoking his pipe and sipping his scotch. I will remember him guiding me through the Chronicles of Narnia in a long late night phone call in the early 80’s. I will hear him pray for his grand-nephew, Abraham in the little church in Pembroke while preaching to us of the true meaning of agape. I will remember trying, wholly unsuccessfully, to digest his earlier works (In Defense of People, Movement and Revolution). I will regret and accept that I did not know him as many others did. I will take comfort in remembering him simply as Uncle Dick.

By: PA Cat

PA Cat — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 03:31:27 +0000

Many of us feel a profound sense of sorrow and loss at Fr. Neuhaus’ passing. But one small correction: RJN’s successor at First Things spells his last name Bottum.

By: Minerva

Minerva — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 02:42:54 +0000

Thank you, Roger. He was a true priest.

By: Dennis

Dennis — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 22:23:34 +0000

What a great man and priest RJN was. The Public Square has been one of the higlights of every month throughout the decade I have been subscribing to First Things. My only quibble with First Things is that I have to wait two months for a new issues between June and September!

That he also left us such profound and moving meditations as Death on a Friday Afternoon and As I Lay Dying, in addition to his legacy at First Things, is something for which we should all be grateful. RIP

By: David Thomson

David Thomson — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 17:38:08 +0000

Vatican II severely damaged the Roman Catholic Church. Richard John Neuhaus was one of the few sensible voices remaining in this large religious institution. It now mostly stands for the advancement of socialism and surrender to the forces of secularism. Anti-intellectualism and the contempt of Western values are now the norm. Fighting abortion is deemed embarrassing and anti-assimilationist.

Do you know what a Catholic usually means when saying they are “open to dialogue to the world?” It just means that these Uncle Toms will grovel at the feet of the “elites” of Harvard and Yale. They have zero interest in talking to conservative Jews and Protestants. I also became a subscriber once again to First Things about a month ago. It is very fine publication—even if you are not Catholic. Someone like Christopher Hitchens should find many of the articles intellectually challenging.