Fr. Richard John Neuhaus Delivers Annual Presidents' Day
Address
(Spring 2001 Newsletter)
The Many Meanings of Christian America
 Fr.
Richard John Neuhaus, president of the Institute for Religion
and Public Life and editor-in-chief of First Things magazine,
lectured to a capacity audience in the St. Joseph Commons
on March 2, 2001. Originally scheduled to deliver the College’s
annual Presidents’ Day Address, Fr. Neuhaus was forced
to postpone his visit by several days so he could attend the
consistory in Rome at which his good friend, Fr. Avery Dulles,
was made a cardinal by Pope John Paul II.
Following an all-campus banquet in his honor, Fr. Neuhaus
spoke on “The Many Meanings of Christian America,”
and surveyed the extent to which Catholics have historically
been involved in American civic life and exhorted them to
continue to be so involved. (His lecture may be reprinted
in a forthcoming issue of the College’s Lecture Series.)
Fr. Neuhaus is one of the nation’s leading thinkers
and commentators on the role of religion in public life, and
the author and editor of more than 20 books. His 1984 book,
The Naked Public Square, is widely regarded as the blueprint
for President Ronald Reagan’s policy on religion in public
life; Christianity Today named it one of the “Top 100”
religious books of the 20th Century. In 1988, he wrote the
influential book, The Catholic Moment: The Paradox of the
Church in the Modern World, while a Lutheran pastor. He has
since converted to Catholicism and has been a clear voice
for the Church on the role of religion in public life.
Fr. Neuhaus was also one of the primary architects of Evangelicals
and Catholics Together, the much-discussed document signed
by leading Evangelical Protestants and Roman Catholics in
America who aimed to identify common ground in Christian faith.
The College is particularly grateful to Fr. Neuhaus for enduring
a grueling travel schedule to deliver the lecture. He was
forced to travel from New York City to the College, speak,
and then return in less than 24 hours.
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