Friends and colleagues remembered Richard Gaillardetz, who died on Tuesday, as a perceptive theologian, mining in his talks, articles and books the ecclesiology of Vatican II and Pope Francis’ vision for the church. They also noted the powerful witness of his reflections on his final months of life.
Many Catholics today fail to appreciate the meaning and moral value of remembrance on All Souls’ Day—though praying for the dead was central to early Christian practice.
The baseball world recently mourned the loss of former Red Sox ace Tim Wakefield, but news of his grave illness was shared in an inherently anti-Christian way.