I have learned that Fr. Dietrich Reinhart, OSB, the President of St. John's University in Collegeville, MN, died of lung and brain cancer a very few months after being diagnosed with the stuff. Fr. Dietrich (he chose this as his name to honor Dietrich Bonhoeffer!) was kind and very upbeat man. A historian by training, he was well aware of the importance of linking the history of the past to the history-in-the-making. And he seemed to be very effective with potential donors.
You may read a short obituary here.
May his memory be eternal.
And may the Lord grant him eternal rest andlet perpetual light to shine on him.
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3 comments:
Indeed, may God grant him eternal rest.
BTW, he was Br. not Fr. Dietrich. The Strib obit today notes that: "After years as a professor of European history and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at St. John's, Reinhart was elected president -- the first non-ordained monk to hold the spot."
RAR
That'll teach me to type and send without proofing. In my defense, however, I'm not sure that I previously knew that he wasn't ordained, but most of the people I knew who knew (of) him referred to him as "Father." They have been similarly mistaken. Or perhaps it became a kind of honorific. I'm not sure.
But given my interest in the ministry of the laity, I ought to have been keen on that distinction. Thanks for the correction.
I too hadn't previously realized that he wasn't ordained. I assumed he was so found it interesting to read that he was the first lay monk to serve as president.
Blessings,
RAR
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