Friday, January 29, 2010

Ralph McInerny: R.I.P.

I just learned through Frank Beckwith's blog that Ralph McInerny, the great Notre Dame philosophy professor, died. I haven't read enough of his scholarly work to know what I think about it. I do know he was pretty critical of the Nouvelle Theologie. I admire him greatly and respect him as a gentleman, a Christian, and for his encyclopedic humanism (if those two terms aren't contradictory). He certainly has been influential on a lot of people I know. Notre Dame certainly could use a few hundred more like him.

I remember being at a Fellowship of Catholic Scholars convention with him a few years ago. I had just come from my hotel room. Notre Dame was ahead, I believe. He was sauntering down the hall. I stopped him and told him what was going on. His eyes lit up, and he suddenly got very animated and rushed off to watch it himself. He loved Notre Dame.

No comments: