Recalling Dr. Hitchcock
by James M. Kushiner
Touchstone senior editor James Francis Hitchcock fell asleep in the Lord on July 14 at the age of 87. From 1993 to 2018, Jim authored 70 articles and editorials for Touchstone.
More than 30 years ago, Jim predicted a growing conflict between traditional Christianity and the liberal society, a conflict often labeled “the negative world,” in which Christianity is viewed as dangerous to society. Jim wrote in a 1993 Touchstone editorial:
Despite their professed principles, both liberal Christianity and militant secularism are in fact quite intolerant of traditional religion, which both regard as an unfortunate hangover from an earlier time, something which retards the maturity of the human race. Thus, public battles over morality and society—abortion, euthanasia, pornography, the nature of education, and many other things—will become sharper rather than diminish.
Jim taught history at St. Louis University, his alma mater, from 1966 until 2013. He received his master’s and doctoral degrees in history from Princeton University. He wrote numerous articles in many periodicals and a dozen books, including his two-volume The Supreme Court and Religion in American Life (Princeton, 2004). His magnum opus is History of the Catholic Church: From the Apostolic Age to the Third Millennium (Ignatius Press, 2021). His prose is clear and not “academic.”
Jim played an important role in the development of Touchstone, putting us in touch with other sympathetic Catholics, including Cardinal Raymond Burke and Fr. Paul Mankowski. Jim’s close involvement with the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars also opened doors for our collaboration with other like-minded Catholics.
Jim’s and his wife, Helen, were married for 47 years, until she passed away in 2014. They lived all those years in the same house in St. Louis, where they raised their four daughters.
Within the Touchstone circle, Jim always held his ground as a faithful Catholic, and respected and enjoyed the company of his Protestant and Orthodox brethren. S. M. Hutchens calls him “a redoubtable saint, delightful man, and an ornament to our communion.” We miss him. Memory eternal, brother James!
James M. Kushiner is the Director of Publications for The Fellowship of St. James and the former Executive Editor of Touchstone.
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more from the online archives
21.6—July/August 2008
Benedict XVI on the Crisis of Faith & Reason by Samuel Gregg
29.1—Jan/Feb 2016
on Marriage, Moral Corruption & the Christian Duty of Witness by Regis Nicoll
29.1—Jan/Feb 2016
Secular Credibility Is a Devilish Temptation by James Hitchcock
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