Noted Catholic philosopher Ralph McInerny died this morning. One present said "It was, from what I can discern, a happy death, serene and full of he acceptance that comes from a sure and strong faith."
I might try to organize some information on him but in the mean time here are some links.
Bio from the Center for Ethics and Culture at Notre Dame
Maritain Center Bio, Notre Dame
Good summary from Gifford Lecture Website
I have learned more than I can say from him on a variety of issues and life in general over the years. He was involved in one of the first book projects I ever worked on, and was a gracious interlocutor and teacher.
He really was a living legend, a man from another time and world it seemed, but he still battled for the redemption of the culture he was a part of. Irreplaceable, he'll be missed.
UPDATE: Great obit by Sir John Haldane here.
I was very grieved this weekend to learn of Professor McInerny's death. He was in every way a great man and an inspiration to me and to many of my fellow philosophy students. Three years ago when I worked at the Center for Ethics and Culture I got to know him and had the privilege of taking the last class that he ever taught – fittingly, a class on Dante and Aquinas.
I still remember the magnificent class period in which he defined for us God’s name – ipsum esse subsistens, in the Latin. I can also remember the class in which he taught us what for St. Thomas distinguishes philosophy from theology. If a thinker presents us with a theory that returns its assertions, at the end of the day, to a concept that is in the public domain and explainable to everyone, then he is a philosopher. Theology, by contrast, is for St. Thomas a discursive field in which the founding principles are based on faith, and are proved by appealing to faith as interpreted by the deliverances of reason.
Of Professor McInerny I think that it can truly be said that the angels are now welcoming him into eternal glory.