Russell Shaw, a prolific Catholic spokesman and author, has died at the age of 90. He was the former Secretary for Public Affairs of the National Catholic Bishops/United States Catholic Conference.
Last year he told me he was not doing well, and asked if I would still promote his latest book, Turning Points: How Thirteen Remarkable Men and Women Heard God’s Call and Responded to It. I was only too happy to endorse it, and to feature it in the July/August edition of Catalyst, the Catholic League’s journal.
Russ served on the board of directors of the Catholic League in the 1990s, and then moved to our board of advisors. I used to joke with him that he is a “walking encyclopedia of Catholicism.” It wasn’t much of a stretch.
Russ had a reserved manner, but it belied a fierce devotion to his calling, namely to accurately and passionately discuss the affairs of the Catholic Church, past and present. His commitment to the mission of the Catholic League—fighting anti-Catholicism—was never in question.
When the notorious ABC-TV show, “Nothing Sacred,” aired in the late 1990s, some on our board of directors questioned whether we should be hammering away at it. Not Russ. He stood by my side, knowing how pernicious this dissident-happy portrait of Catholicism was. ABC, a Disney product, tried to stop our attacks on the show, but did not prevail. We eventually won and the show was withdrawn.
Russell Shaw will be missed. His legacy is secure and the Catholic Church is its beneficiary.
