Richard John Neuhaus (May 14, 1936–January 8, 2009) was a prominent Christian cleric (first in the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, then ELCA pastor and later as a

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the Holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in layman's terms ''priest'' refers only ...

) and writer. Born in Canada, Neuhaus moved to the United States where he became a naturalized

United States citizen Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constituti ...

. He was the longtime editor of the ''Lutheran Forum'' magazine newsletter and later founder and editor of the monthly journal ''

First Things ''First Things'' (''FT'') is an ecumenical and conservative religious journal aimed at "advanc nga religiously informed public philosophy for the ordering of society". The magazine, which focuses on theology, liturgy, church history, religio ...

'' and the author of numerous books. A staunch defender of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

's teachings on abortion and other life issues, he served as an unofficial adviser to 43rd President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

on bioethical issues.Dennis Sadowski, "Fr. Neuhaus, adviser to George Bush, dies aged 72.", ''

The Catholic Herald The ''Catholic Herald'' is a London-based Roman Catholic monthly newspaper and starting December 2014 a magazine, published in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and, formerly, the United States. It reports a total circulation of abo ...

'', London, January 16, 2009, p. 6.

Early life and education

Born in Pembroke,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, on May 14, 1936, Neuhaus was one of eight children of a

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

minister and his wife. Although he had dropped out of

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

at age 16 to operate a gas station in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, he returned to school, graduating from

Concordia Lutheran College , motto_translation = Without the Lord, all is in vain , established = 1946 , type = Independent, co-educational, day & boarding , denomination = Lutheran , slogan = , principal = Anton Prinsloo , key_people = , chaplain ...

of Austin, Texas, in 1956. He moved to

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

, where he earned his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

and Master of Divinity degrees from

Concordia Seminary Concordia Seminary is a Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, Lutheran seminary in Clayton, Missouri. The institution's primary mission is to train pastors, deaconesses, Missionary, missionaries, chaplains, and church leaders for the Lutheran Chur ...

in 1960.

Career

Lutheran minister

Neuhaus was first an

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

minister in the conservative Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod. In 1974, a major schism in the Missouri Synod resulted in many "modernist" churches splitting to form the more progressive

Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches The Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches (AELC) was a U.S. church body that existed from 1976 through the end of 1987. The AELC formed when approximately 250 dissident congregations withdrew from the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS ...

to which Neuhaus eventually affiliated. The AELC, merged a decade later in 1988 with the other two more liberal Lutheran denominations in the US, the

American Lutheran Church The American Lutheran Church (TALC) was a Christian Protestant denomination in the United States and Canada that existed from 1960 to 1987. Its headquarters were in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Upon its formation in 1960, The ALC designated Augsburg ...

(1960) and the

Lutheran Church in America The Lutheran Church in America (LCA) was an American and Canadian Lutheran church body that existed from 1962 to 1987. It was headquartered in New York City and its publishing house was Fortress Press. The LCA's immigrant heritage came mostly fr ...

(1962), to finally form the current Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, for 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 in Williamsburg,

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. From the pulpit he addressed

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...

and social justice concerns and spoke against the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

. In the late 1960s he gained national prominence when, together with Jesuit priest

Daniel Berrigan Daniel Joseph Berrigan (May 9, 1921 – April 30, 2016) was an American Jesuit priest, anti-war activist, Christian pacifist, playwright, poet, and author. Berrigan's active protest against the Vietnam War earned him both scorn and admi ...

and Rabbi

Abraham Joshua Heschel Abraham Joshua Heschel (January 11, 1907 – December 23, 1972) was a Polish-born American rabbi and one of the leading Jewish theologians and Jewish philosophers of the 20th century. Heschel, a professor of Jewish mysticism at the Jewish T ...

, he founded Clergy and Laymen Concerned About Vietnam. He was active in the Evangelical Catholic movement in Lutheranism and spent time at Saint Augustine's House, the Lutheran

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

monastery, in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. He was active in liberal politics until the 1973 ruling on

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...

in ''

Roe v. Wade ''Roe v. Wade'', 410 U.S. 113 (1973),. was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States conferred the right to have an abortion. The decision struck down many federal and s ...

'' by the

US Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point of ...

, which he opposed. He became a member of the growing

neoconservative Neoconservatism is a political movement that began in the United States during the 1960s among liberal hawks who became disenchanted with the increasingly pacifist foreign policy of the Democratic Party and with the growing New Left and count ...

movement and an outspoken advocate of " democratic capitalism". He also advocated faith-based policy initiatives by the federal government based upon Judeo-Christian values. He originated the "Neuhaus's Law",''First Things''
"The Unhappy Fate of Optional Orthodoxy"
''First Things'', February 2009 which states, "Where orthodoxy is optional, orthodoxy will sooner or later be proscribed." He was a longtime editor of the monthly newsletter published in between quarterly issues of the interdenominational independent journal ''Lutheran 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 permanent

diaconate A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

(

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

) as a full-fledged office in the threefold ministry of bishop / presbyter (priest) / deacon under the historic

episcopacy A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

(office of

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

), following earlier actions of the Roman Catholics in the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...

and the churches of the

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...

(including the Episcopal Church in the US). In 1981, Neuhaus helped to found the

Institute on Religion and Democracy The Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD) is an American Christian conservative think tank that promotes its views among mainline Protestant churches, as well as advocating for its values in the public square. Its critics claim that it has bee ...

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-tank

Rockford Institute The Rockford Institute was an American conservative think-tank associated with paleoconservatism, based in Rockford, Illinois. It ran the John Randolph Club and published the magazine ''Chronicles''. In early 2019, the Rockford Institute merged w ...

in Rockford,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

, which publishes ''

Chronicles Chronicles may refer to: * ''Books of Chronicles'', in the Bible * Chronicle, chronological histories * ''The Chronicles of Narnia'', a novel series by C. S. Lewis * ''Holinshed's Chronicles'', the collected works of Raphael Holinshed * '' The Idh ...

''. In 1989, he and the center were "forcibly evicted" from the institute's eastern offices in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

under disputed circumstances. In March 1990, Neuhaus founded the Institute on Religion and Public Life and its journal, ''

'', an ecumenical journal "whose purpose is to advance a religiously informed public philosophy for the ordering of society."

Roman Catholic priest

In September 1990, Neuhaus was received into the

. A year after becoming a Roman Catholic, he was

by Cardinal John O'Connor as a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

of the

Archdiocese of New York The Archdiocese of New York ( la, Archidiœcesis Neo-Eboracensis) is an ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church ( particularly the Roman Catholic or Latin Church) located in the State of New York. It encompasses the boroug ...

. He served as a commentator for the Catholic television network Eternal Word Television (EWTN) during the

funeral of Pope John Paul II The funeral of Pope John Paul II was held on 8 April 2005, six days after his death on 2 April. The funeral was followed by the devotional in which the Catholic Church observes nine days of mourning. On 22 February 1996, Pope John Paul II ...

and the election of Pope Benedict XVI. Neuhaus continued to edit ''First 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.

Personal life and death

Neuhaus died from complications of cancer in New York City, on January 8, 2009, aged 72.

Political significance

In later years, Neuhaus compared anti-abortion activism to the

civil rights movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...

of the 1960s. During the 2004 presidential campaign, he was a leading advocate for denying communion to

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

politicians who supported abortion. It was a mistake, he declared, to isolate abortion "from other issues of the sacredness of life." Neuhaus promoted ecumenical dialogue and social conservatism. Along with

Charles Colson Charles Wendell Colson (October 16, 1931 – April 21, 2012), generally referred to as Chuck Colson, was an American attorney and political advisor who served as Special Counsel to President Richard Nixon from 1969 to 1970. Once known as P ...

, he edited ''Evangelicals and Catholics Together: Toward a Common Mission'' (1995). This ecumenical manifesto sparked much debate. A close yet unofficial adviser of President

, he advised Bush on a range of religious and

ethical Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns ma ...

matters, including abortion, stem-cell research,

cloning Cloning is the process of producing individual organisms with identical or virtually identical DNA, either by natural or artificial means. In nature, some organisms produce clones through asexual reproduction. In the field of biotechnology, c ...

, and the

Federal Marriage Amendment The Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA), also referred to by proponents as the Marriage Protection Amendment, was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution that would legally define marriage as a union of one man and one woman. The FMA ...

. ''Time'' Magazine
The 25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America – Richard John Neuhaus
2005 In 2005, under the heading of "Bushism Made Catholic", Neuhaus was named one of the "25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America" by ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'' magazine: Neuhaus was criticized for his political engagement as " theoconservatism". In contrast, the theologian

David Bentley Hart David Bentley Hart (born 1965) is a writer, philosopher, religious studies scholar, critic, and theologian with academic works published on a wide range of topics including Christian metaphysics, philosophy of mind, classics, Asian languages, and ...

described Neuhaus as

a reflective, intelligent, self-possessed, generous, and principled man, is opinionated (definitely), but not at all spiteful or resentful towards those who disagree with him; words like "absolutist" are vacuous abstractions when applied to him. His magazine publishes articles that argue (sometimes quite forcibly) views contrary to his own, and he seems quite pleased that it should do so.

Works

Books

*''Movement and Revolution'' (co-authored with Peter Berger, 1970) *''In Defense of People: Ecology and the Seduction of Radicalism'' (1971) *''Time Toward Home: The American Experiment as Revelation'' (1975) *''Against the World for the World: The Hartford Appeal and the Future of American Religion'' (co-authored with Peter Berger, 1976) *''Freedom for Ministry'' (1979) *''Unsecular America'' (1986) *'' The Naked Public Square: Religion and Democracy in America'' (1986; ) *''Confession, Conflict, and Community'' (co-edited with Peter Berger, 1986) *''Dispensations: The Future of South Africa As South Africans See It'' (1986) *''Piety and Politics: Evangelicals and Fundamentalists Confront the World'' (co-editor with Michael Cromartie, 1987) *''Democracy and the Renewal of Public Education'' (editor with author Richard Baer, 1987) *''Jews in Unsecular America'' (1987) *''The Catholic Moment: The Paradox of the Church in the Postmodern World'' (1987; ) *''Believing Today: Jew and Christian in Conversation'' (co-authored with Leon Klinicki, 1989) *''Reinhold Niebuhr Today'' (1989) *''Guaranteeing the Good Life: Medicine and the Return of Eugenics'' (editor, 1990) *''Doing Well & Doing Good: The Challenge to the Christian Capitalist'' (1992) *''America Against Itself: Moral Vision and the Public Order'' (1992; ) *''Freedom for Ministry: A Guide for the Perplexed Who Are Called to Serve'' (1992; ) *''To Empower People: From State to Civil Society'' (co-authored with Peter Berger, 1996) *''The End of Democracy? The Celebrated First Things Debate, With Arguments Pro and Con and "the Anatomy of a Controversy"'' (co-edited with Mitchell Muncy, 1997) *''The Best of the Public Square'' (1997) *''Appointment in Rome: The Church in America Awakening'' (1999) *''The Eternal Pity: Reflections on Dying'' (editor, 2000; ) *''A Free Society Reader: Principles for the New Millennium'' (2000; ) *''There We Stood, Here We Stand: Eleven Lutherans Rediscover Their Catholic Roots'' (co-authored with Timothy Drake, 2001) *''The Second One Thousand Years: Ten People Who Defined a Millennium'' (editor, 2001) *''The Best of the Public Square: Book 2'' (2001) *''Death on a Friday Afternoon: Meditations on the Last Words of Jesus from the Cross'' (2001; ) *''As I Lay Dying: Meditations Upon Returning'' (2002; ) *''The Chosen People in an Almost Chosen Nation: Jews and Judaism in America'' (editor, 2002) *''Your Word Is Truth: A Project of Evangelicals and Catholics Together'' (co-edited with

; 2002; ) *''As I Lay Dying: Meditations Upon Returning'' (2003) *''The Best of the Public Square: Book 3'' (2007) *''Catholic Matters: Confusion, Controversy, and the Splendor of Truth'' (2007; ) *''American Babylon: Notes of a Christian Exile'' (2009)

''On the Square'' blog

References

External links

ProfileNeuhaus online archive
* ** ttps://www.c-span.org/video/?169660-1/as-lay-dying ''Booknotes'' interview with Neuhaus on ''As I Lay Dying: Meditations Upon Returning'' May 26, 2002
''In Depth'' interview with Neuhaus
June 5, 2005
"A Strange New Regime: The Naked Public Square and the Passing of the American Constitutional Order"
by Neuhaus for the

Heritage Foundation The Heritage Foundation (abbreviated to Heritage) is an American conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. that is primarily geared toward public policy. The foundation took a leading role in the conservative movement during the preside ...

''Newsweek'' obituary
by

George Weigel George Weigel (born 1951) is a Catholic neoconservative American author, political analyst, and social activist. He currently serves as a Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center. Weigel was the Founding President of the ...

''Slate'' obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neuhaus, Richard John 1936 births 2009 deaths American political activists American anti-abortion activists American Roman Catholic religious writers American theologians Canadian emigrants to the United States Converts to Roman Catholicism from Lutheranism Deaths from cancer in New York (state) Editors of Christian publications People from Pembroke, Ontario Naturalized citizens of the United States Public theologians 20th-century American Roman Catholic priests Editors of religious publications Concordia Seminary alumni