Father Robert Drinan -- R.I.P.
I had the good fortune to meet Father Drinan a few times while I worked in Washington. He will be missed. The New York Times story begins:
The Rev. Robert F. Drinan, a Jesuit who served in Congress for 10 years until stepping down in response to a papal order, died Sunday. He was 86 and lived here in housing for the Georgetown University Jesuit community. -- Rev. Robert Drinan, Ex-Congressman, Dies at 86 - New York Times
And the Washington Post says: The Rev. Robert Drinan, 86, the Roman Catholic priest who played a unique and historic role in American public life as a lawyer, law school teacher, opponent of war and advocate of human rights and as a congressman who recommended the impeachment of President Richard M. Nixon, died Jan. 28 at Sibley Memorial Hospital.
Father Drinan, who had taught at Georgetown University law school since ending his 10 years as a Democratic member of the House of Representatives from Massachusetts, had been suffering from pneumonia and congestive heart failure. He lived at the Jesuit residence on the Georgetown campus.
Last year, Father Drinan was one of four former members of the House to be honored with the Congressional Distinguished Service Award. In 2004, the American Bar Association called him amazing and "the stuff of which legends are made" in awarding him the ABA Medal. ...
When Father Drinan took office, he said he would continue to wear clerical garb. "It's the only clothes I have," he said. -- Rev. Robert Drinan; Congressman, GU Law School Teacher