A giant of our Faith has passed:
The cause was complications from colon cancer, said his daughter Jana Novak.
Mr. Novak, who spent his formative years in the seminary, was widely recognized as one of the most influential Catholic theologians of his generation. He was the 1994 recipient of the Templeton Prize, which honors makers of an “exceptional contribution to affirming life’s spiritual dimension” and is accompanied by a monetary award exceeding that of the Nobel Prize.
In a measure of Mr. Novak’s influence within the Catholic Church, he was received and consulted by Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI. He was at times a professor, a columnist, chief U.S. delegate to the U.N. Human Rights Commission and, for several decades, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, the conservative think tank in Washington.
Mr. Novak was among several scholars who “brought serious religious thought to Washington in a way that it had not been present before,” George Weigel, a distinguished senior fellow at the Washington-based Ethics and Public Policy Center, said in an interview.
He credited Mr. Novak with demonstrating to an “audience of insiders” a “way of thinking that was not merely statistical or ideological but was perhaps more deeply reflective of enduring human questions and problems.”
Mr. Novak wrote a shelf full of books on topics ranging from nuclear weapons to atheism to social justice to sports. But he was best known for his economic writings, particularly the book “The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism” (1982).
“Democratic capitalism,” he wrote, is “neither the Kingdom of God nor without sin. Yet all other known systems of political economy are worse. Such hope as we have for alleviating poverty and for removing oppressive tyranny — perhaps our last, best hope — lies in this much despised system.”
Go here to read the rest. In his lifetime he had a fascinating journey politically from left to right. His optimist faith in the triumph of truth and his devotion to God and freedom I will miss. May he now be enjoying the Beatific Vision.
RIP. There’s the loss to those who knew him, and there’s the loss to the rest of us. Ralph McInerney, Peter Kreeft, Michael Novak, Joseph Fessio all came of age in the pre-Vatican II Church. Those of succeeding generations tend to be academic gamesmen (name any Jesuit), or lost in the discourse of the theological acadmey (Robert Reno). Men like Michael Novak simply are not being replaced.
I think Art Deco is right. And yes, Mr Novak, rest in peace.
Incredible man.
Our current Pope could benefit from the writing’s and views of this new blessed, possible Saint. Slovakian descendants.
I love it. His memory of his grandfather praying after the meal was beautiful.
There’s so much the Pope could learn from this man’s wisdom and insight.
My prayers for his soul will be offered up today at 4pm Mass.
I am taken aback : I am the same age.
Thank you Philip Nachazel, for another reason to like Mr. Novak and wish him Godspeed to Paradise. I married a Slovak girl and she has made my life a foretaste of Paradise these fifty-four years and I hope many more. May he rest in peace.
I have the grace to meet him in 2015. Truly, he was a giant. Fantastic. RIP in Christ.
William P. Walsh
Your welcome.
I have a fondness for our roots.
Great great grandfather made the trek from Bohemia to Good Harbor Bay in 1863. After years of traveling and living in various places I’m content to be living three miles from the old homestead.
To partake in Holy Mass in a church Great great gramps help build is a remarkable feeling.
Oh….And kolache’…the yummy pastry that my grandmother made for my dad on his birthday’s..well that is a gift handed down through time that gets smiles from each generation.
RIP also to Norma “Jane Roe” McCorvey, who spent the last 20+ years of her life speaking out against the SCOTUS decision that made her a household name:
http://mobile.wnd.com/2017/02/norma-mccorvey-jane-roe-of-roe-v-wade-passes-away/
I met her and spoke to her Elaine. She was a diamond in the rough with a big heart. Her transition to the pro-life cause began when she was managing an abortion clinic. She loved the little kids of one regular pro-life demonstrator. She was aghast, and stopped her, when one of the pro-abortion clinic escorts, attempted to “accidentally” hit one of the kids. That simple incident began the process of her seeing abortion for what it was and is.
[…] RESQUIESCAT IN PACE: MICHAEL NOVAK […]
I got to interview her by phone once. She had a very hard life and did not get to raise any of her three children — including the child she was pregnant with and seeking to abort at the time the Roe suit was filed (she gave that baby up for adoption). IIRC she told me (and she has stated this in other interviews) that she never felt accepted by the pro-abortion movement, which regarded her as somewhat of an embarrassment because of her social standing. The pro-life movement, on the other hand, welcomed her with open arms.
” she never felt accepted by the pro-abortion movement” Pro-aborts, anti-life individuals hate everybody, despise everybody because pro-aborts and anti-life individuals do not know how to love. Pro-aborts do not want to love.
When I heard on the radio of Norma McCorvey’s (aka Jane Doe) death I was surprised that the news service mentioned that she had become a pro-life advocate. I thought they would leave that detail out.
Elaine, I never knew that she did not have that abortion. That’s one detail the media leaves out. Yes, may she RIP.