Richard Neuhaus was born in Canada in 1936 and later in life became a naturalized American citizen. He was one of eight children born to a Lutheran minister and his wife. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree and Master of Divinity degree from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri in 1960.
Neuhaus was first an ordained minister in the conservative Lutheran Church鈥揗issouri Synod, part of the now Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. From 1961 to 1978, he served as pastor of St. John the Evangelist Church in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. He addressed civil rights and social justice concerns and spoke against the Vietnam War.
He was a longtime editor of "First Things" a monthly newsletter published by the American Lutheran Publicity Bureau during the 1970s and 1980s. He also held influential leadership roles in organizations dealing with civil rights, international justice and ecumenism, and became the recipient of numerous honours from universities and other institutions. In 1981, Neuhaus helped found the Institute on Religion and Public Life, a nonpartisan inter-religious research and education institute in New York City, and served as its president. In 1990, he converted to the Roman Catholic Church and a year later was ordained as a priest of the Archdiocese of New York. He continued to edit 鈥淔irst Things鈥� as a Catholic priest.
Among Neuhaus' best-known books are The Naked Public Square: Religion and Democracy in America, The Catholic Moment: the Paradox of the Church in the Postmodern World, Believing Today: Jew and Christian in Conversation (with Rabbi Leon Klenicki) and The End of Democracy?
Neuhaus delivered the Beatty Lecture on October 10, 2002, titled "Liberal Democracy and Acts of Faith". His Lecture was given as part of Pluralism, Religion & Public Policy, a conference at McGill designed to bring together people from academia, law, politics and religious institutions to debate foundational issues, particularly in regards to the tragic events of September 11, 2001. William Galston delivered the Beatty Lecture as part of the same conference. The project was co-sponsored by McGill's Faculty of Religious Studies and the Centre for Cultural Renewal in Ottawa.
Image: Archives of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
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