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Father Richard John Neuhaus (1936-2009) served as President of The Institute on Religion and Public Life, a nonpartisan inter-religious research and education institute in New York City. Acclaimed as one of the foremost authorities on the role of religion in the contemporary world, Father Neuhaus also was editor-in-chief of the Institute's publication, First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life. Among his best-known books are Freedom for Ministry, Naked Public Square: Religion and Democracy in America, Believing Today: Jew and Christian in Conversation (with Rabbi Leon Klenicki); The End of Democracy? The Celebrated First Things Debate, with Arguments Pro and Con, and The Anatomy of a Controversy (edited by Mitchell S. Muncy); and Appointment in Rome: The Church in America Awakening.. As a Lutheran clergyman, Father Neuhaus was for 17 years senior pastor of a low-income African-American parish in Brooklyn, New York. Father Neuhaus has played a leadership role in organizations dealing with civil rights, international justice, and ecumenism, and his work has been the subject of feature articles in popular and scholarly publications both here and abroad. He has been the recipient of numerous honors from universities and other institutions, including the John Paul II Award for Religious Freedom. In a survey of national leadership, US News and World Report named Father Neuhaus one of the 32 'most influential intellectuals in America.' In September 1991, he was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of New York.