In Memoriam, Richard John Neuhaus

It's been one year since Fr. Richard John Neuhaus was suddenly summoned home. Too early, too early...

I admired him since I first encountered him, in the pages of The Wittenburg Door in the mid 80s. He recounted his journey from Sixties activist to conservative Catholic priest. He kept up his insistence for justice in Vietnam after the communists won, but was told by his fellow activists that the communists were on the correct side of the world revolution and were not to be criticized. Later on, I discovered First Things, don't remember how. Much of the contents resonated with me (though I continue to deplore their toleration of Intelligent Design charlatanry in their pages), and became part of my inner furniture.

In fact, I used to theme this blog as a running appreciation of FT. After a while I drifted out of schtick--I didn't have the intellectual firepower to do more than just link, it turned out. But I still resonate...

By chance, his memorial mass is just now starting, in New York City. Insert moment of silence here.

More. And more.