c. 2008 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) When he died at work, that perfect June day that happened to be Friday the 13th, Tim Russert managed to upstage both the president and the pope as they strolled through the manicured lawns of the Vatican gardens.

The newsman suddenly became the news. As the days crept by, and shock morphed into resignation, commentary and remembrances flooded the airwaves: Russert from Buffalo, Russert the political junkie, Russert the devoted dad, Russert the loving son, Russert the Catholic.

Russert the Catholic?

It was not his first credential, but he never denied it. Those who knew him, like San Francisco Archbishop George H. Niederauer, head of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ communications committee, knew Russert “was not shy about telling people to turn to prayer and promising to pray for them in their time of need.” NBC News staff, following his lead, summoned retired Cardinal Theodore McCarrick to come to the studio soon after Russert died.

Someone said if Russert had chosen the priesthood, he would have been a cardinal. But Russert belonged to the 99 percent among the billion or so Catholics in the world known as “laity.” They’re the rank-and-file Catholics working at their jobs, raising their families, trying to get the best in life for their children.

Russert was Catholic and Irish in a town where neither was fashionable. When he pinned Al Gore down on “Meet the Press” about abortion, the world saw common sense and simple biology _ not Irish Catholic Tim Russert _ pile on. “When do you think life begins?” Russert asked. That was all he had to do.

Russert walked the narrow public path that kept his private views private, but he supported Catholic causes and charities, and regularly turned up at Saturday afternoon Mass in Georgetown. He wrote a book about his father and he always talked about his son. He was a kind mentor to the young professionals behind him. He also knew the big shots in the political worlds of church and state, who lamented his passing and who turned out for his funeral. Even President and Mrs. Bush went to his wake.

His family was the center of his life. Just weeks before he died, big-hearted Tim-the-dad was at his son Luke’s graduation from Boston College. The Russerts _ father, mother, son _ went to Rome to celebrate. They went to the pope’s Wednesday audience and dined inside the Vatican with their friend, Cardinal John Patrick Foley.

Russert never scored the interview he wanted most: a sitdown with the pope. No matter. Russert’s life told a better story for the 99 percent. His values turned up in hard, honest work and fairness; his beliefs showed in cheerfulness and in concern.

He was prescient in his political analysis. Even the most nonpolitical person among us remembers his analysis of the contested 2000 election: “Florida, Florida, Florida.”

His life also explained something else quite simply, and he didn’t need his signature white board to do it. You can almost hear him reminding the 99 percent what it is all about: “Family, Family, Family.”

(Phyllis Zagano is senior research associate-in-residence at Hofstra University and author of several books in Catholic Studies.)

KRE DS END ZAGANO

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