Rev. Robert F. Drinan, S.J., the first Catholic priest to be a voting member of Congress died on Sunday at the age of 86. Drinan was a member of the Georgetown Jesuit community.
A well-known human rights advocate and a professor at the Law Center, Drinan served as a congressman from Massachusetts for five terms from 1971 to 1981. He was the first congressperson to present articles of impeachment against President Nixon for his actions during the Vietnam War.
“He was an idealistic pragmatist,” Rev. John Langan, Rector of Georgetown’s Jesuit Community, said of Drinan. “The important thing about Bob is what he stood for and what he gave his life for.”
Drinan came to Georgetown after being ordered to leave Congress by Pope John Paul II, according to Langan. Drinan continued his advocacy, focusing on issues like the genocide in Darfur, until his illness forced him to stop. He died of pneumonia and congestive heart failure.
“At the end it was more like watching a clock stop,” Langan said. “He had all this energy and then he got very sick.”
