Henri Nouwen, a popular and prolific author and spiritual guide, died suddenly on Sept. 21, 1996, from the complications of two major heart attacks. En route to Russia, he was going to film a special for the BBC on Rembrandt’s famous painting “The Return of the Prodigal Son,” at th

When he was elected in 1958, the 78-year-old Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli appeared to be a “transitional pope.” He did in fact become transitional—in unexpected ways. As Pope John XXIII, he inaugurated a new era for the Roman Catholic Church when he prayed for a “new Pentecost.&r