Richard John Neuhaus

Richard John Neuhaus ( born May 14, 1936 in Pembroke, Ontario, Canada, † January 8, 2009 in New York City ) was an American priest, theologian, and author ecumenicist. He founded the religious magazine First Things.

Life

Richard John Neuhaus was born as one of eight children of a Lutheran pastor's family in Canada. In 1960 he was ordained as pastor of the Lutheran Church. Subsequently he was pastor in Williamsburg ( Brooklyn ), a community with colored and Spanish residents. In 1984 he founded the Center for Religion and Society at the Rockford Institute, which published several magazines. In 1989 the center was evicted because Neuhaus opposed the racist and anti-Semitic remarks led by the Rockford Institute. In 1990, he then founded First Things, a theological journal with an emphasis on ecumenism.

Neuhaus, the conservative Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, the second largest Lutheran church in the United States of America belonged, converted on 8 September 1990 on the Roman Catholic Church. He was ordained a priest by Cardinal John O'Connor of the Archdiocese of New York.

Neuhaus has published numerous books. He was a commentator for the station EWTN in the U.S., including at the funeral of John Paul II and the election of Benedict XVI .. He belonged to the circle of advisers of U.S. President George W. Bush.

Neuhaus had in the U.S. also play a leading role in the dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Protestants.