Richard John Neuhaus | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1936-05-14)May 14, 1936 Pembroke, Canada |
| Died | January 8, 2009(2009-01-08) (aged 72) New York City,New York, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Concordia Seminary |
| Known for | FoundingFirst Things |
| Notable work | The Naked Public Square (1984) |
| Movement | |
| Ecclesiastical career | |
| Religion | Christianity (Lutheran · Roman Catholic) |
| Church | |
| Ordained |
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Congregations served | St. John the Evangelist Church,Williamsburg (1961-1978) |
Richard John Neuhaus (May 14, 1936 – January 8, 2009) was a prominent writer andChristian cleric (first in theLutheran Church–Missouri Synod, then theEvangelical Lutheran Church in America and later theCatholic Church).
Born in Canada, Neuhaus moved to theUnited States, where he became a naturalized United States citizen. He was the longtime editor of theLutheran Forum magazine newsletter and later founder and editor of the monthly journalFirst Things and the author of numerous books.
A staunch defender of theCatholic Church's teachings on abortion and other life issues, he was an unofficial adviser to PresidentGeorge W. Bush on bioethical issues.[1]
Born inPembroke,Ontario, on May 14, 1936, Neuhaus was one of eight children of aLutheranminister and his wife. Although he had dropped out ofhigh school at age 16 to operate a gas station inTexas,[2] he returned to school, graduating fromConcordia Lutheran College of Austin, Texas, in 1956. He moved toSt. Louis,Missouri, where he earned hisBachelor of Arts andMaster of Divinity degrees fromConcordia Seminary in 1960.[1]
Neuhaus was first anordained pastor in the conservativeLutheran Church–Missouri Synod.[3] In 1974, a majorschism in the Missouri Synod resulted in many"modernist" churches splitting to form the moreprogressiveAssociation of Evangelical Lutheran Churches to which Neuhaus eventually affiliated. The AELC merged a decade later in 1988 with the other two more liberal Lutheran denominations in the US, theAmerican Lutheran Church (1960) and theLutheran Church in America (1962), to finally form the currentEvangelical Lutheran Church in America, of which Neuhaus was a member of the clergy.
From 1961 to 1978, he served as pastor of St. John the Evangelist Church, a poor, predominantly black and Hispanic congregation inWilliamsburg,Brooklyn.[4] From the pulpit he addressedcivil rights and social justice concerns and spoke against theVietnam War. In the late 1960s he gained national prominence when, together withJesuit priestDaniel Berrigan and RabbiAbraham Joshua Heschel, he founded Clergy and Laymen Concerned About Vietnam.[1]
He was active[when?] in theEvangelical Catholic movement in Lutheranism and spent time withThe Congregation of the Servants of Christ at Saint Augustine's House, the LutheranBenedictine monastery, inOxford,Michigan. He was active in liberal politics until the 1973 ruling onabortion inRoe v. Wade by theUS Supreme Court, which he opposed. He became a member of the growingneoconservative movement and an outspoken advocate of "democratic capitalism". He also advocated faith-based policy initiatives by the federal government based upon Judeo-Christian values.[1] He originated the "Neuhaus's Law",[5] which states, "Where orthodoxy is optional, orthodoxy will sooner or later be proscribed."[5]
He was a longtime editor of the monthly newsletter published in between quarterly issues of the interdenominational independent journalLutheran Forum, published by the American Lutheran Publicity Bureau during the 1970s and 1980s. He was a supporter of the movement to reestablish, in Lutheranism, the permanentdiaconate (deacon) as a full-fledged office in the threefold ministry of bishop / presbyter (priest) / deacon under the historicepiscopacy (office ofbishop), following earlier actions of the Catholics in theSecond Vatican Council and the churches of theAnglican Communion (including theEpiscopal Church in the US).
In 1981, Neuhaus helped to found theInstitute on Religion and Democracy and remained on its board until his death. He wrote its founding document, "Christianity and Democracy". In 1984, he established the Center for Religion and Society as part of the conservative think-tankRockford Institute inRockford,Illinois, which publishesChronicles. In 1989, he and the center were "forcibly evicted" from the institute's eastern offices inNew York City under disputed circumstances.[citation needed]
In March 1990, Neuhaus founded theInstitute on Religion and Public Life and its journal,First Things, an ecumenical journal "whose purpose is to advance a religiously informed public philosophy for the ordering of society."[6]
In September 1990, Neuhaus was received into theCatholic Church.[7] A year after becoming a Catholic, he wasordained by CardinalJohn O'Connor as apriest of theArchdiocese of New York. He served as a commentator for the Catholic television networkEternal Word Television (EWTN) during thefuneral of Pope John Paul II and theelection of Pope Benedict XVI.[8]
Neuhaus continued to editFirst Things as a Catholic priest. He was a sought-after public speaker and wrote several books, both scholarly and popular genres. He appeared in the 2010 film,The Human Experience, released after his death, where his voice features in the narration and in the film's trailer.
Neuhaus died from complications of cancer in New York City,[9] on January 8, 2009, aged 72.[10]
In later years, Neuhaus comparedanti-abortion movements to thecivil rights movement of the 1960s. During the2004 presidential campaign, he was a leading advocate for denying communion toCatholic politicians who supported abortion. It was a mistake, he declared, to isolate abortion "from other issues of the sacredness of life."[1]
Neuhaus promoted ecumenical dialogue andsocial conservatism. Along withCharles Colson, he editedEvangelicals and Catholics Together: Toward a Common Mission (1995).[11] This ecumenical manifesto sparked much debate.[12]
A close yet unofficial adviser of PresidentGeorge W. Bush, he advised Bush on a range of religious andethical matters, including abortion,stem-cell research,cloning, and theFederal Marriage Amendment.[13] In 2005, under the heading of "Bushism Made Catholic," Neuhaus was named one of the "25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America" byTime magazine.[13] The article noted that in several speeches, Bush cited Neuhaus more than any other living authority. Bush was reported to have said that the Catholic priest helped him articulate religious ideas.[13]
Neuhaus was criticized for his political engagement in "theoconservatism".[14][15] Nonetheless, theologianDavid Bentley Hart reminded his readers that "words likeabsolutist are vacuous abstractions when applied to" Neuhaus. Hart praised the editor ofFirst Things for his willingness to publish "views contrary to his own, and he seems quite pleased that it should do so."[16]
Neuhaus controversially defended disgracedMarcial Maciel, founder of theLegionaries of Christ, in the pages ofFirst Things.[17]
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