The great Father Richard John Neuhaus, who was an associate of Martin Luther King, Jr., a high profile convert to Catholicism, and editor of the seminal journal First Things, is near death. Per K-Lo at National Review:
His friends and family are keeping vigil and he was administered last rites shortly after midnight. Fr. George Rutler, who gave him the Catholic Sacrament, says that “he is not expected to live long” and suggests “that it is appropriate that prayers be offered for a holy death.”
Fr. Neuhaus has come close to this moment before and been back. If it’s his time: Go in peace. He’s a man who has loved and served His Lord. When he leaves this world, his vast intellectual and spiritual body of work will have a long life here.
I cannot tell you how much he means to those of us, Catholic and Protestant, who are Christians in higher education. My intellectual life would have been far poorer without his work in First Things and his important book The Naked Public Square. He has not wasted an ounce of his energy in this life.
Those of you inclined to pray, please do.