In an interview with Catholic News Service shortly after he took the helm of “Meet the Press” in 1991, Russert said he enjoyed the somewhat unusual position in Washington public life of being a Catholic who wore his faith proudly.
In “official Washington and television news there aren’t all that many practicing Catholics,” he said, and when he first came to Washington people kidded him about it. They grew to accept and respect him for it, Russert said.
Some suggest that at work you have to “forget you’re Catholic or forget you’re Irish,” he said. But “it’s impossible. It’s your inner self.”
Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, retired archbishop of Washington, considered Russert a friend. In an interview with WRC-TV, the local NBC affiliate, he recalled the many times he would ask Russert for assistance with one project or another — often some kind of fundraising. The cardinal said the newsman inevitably responded, “If I can fit it in, I will do it.”
“He always had time for people,” said Cardinal McCarrick. “I think that was what made him a great reporter. He always had time for people.”
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Tim Russert remembered for his fondness for church, faithfulness
In an interview with Catholic News Service shortly after he took the helm of “Meet the Press” in 1991, Russert said he enjoyed the somewhat unusual position in Washington public life of being a Catholic who wore his faith proudly.
In “official Washington and television news there aren’t all that many practicing Catholics,” he said, and when he first came to Washington people kidded him about it. They grew to accept and respect him for it, Russert said.
Some suggest that at work you have to “forget you’re Catholic or forget you’re Irish,” he said. But “it’s impossible. It’s your inner self.”
Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, retired archbishop of Washington, considered Russert a friend. In an interview with WRC-TV, the local NBC affiliate, he recalled the many times he would ask Russert for assistance with one project or another — often some kind of fundraising. The cardinal said the newsman inevitably responded, “If I can fit it in, I will do it.”
“He always had time for people,” said Cardinal McCarrick. “I think that was what made him a great reporter. He always had time for people.”
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