While I Breathe, I Hope: A Mystagogy of Dying

2025 Catholic Media Association First Place Award, Grief and Bereavement

2025 Catholic Media Association Second Place Award, Memoir

Deeply spiritual and personal reflections from distinguished theologian Richard R. Gaillardetz.

Diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer, theologian Dr. Richard R. Gaillardetz started sharing his thoughts and reflections on CaringBridge and signed off each entry with the Latin phrase "dum spiro, spero" ("While I breathe, I hope"). In his chronologically compiled essays, Rick moves through his final season of life seeking insight from his Christian faith, while discovering new meaning in the signs and symbols that mark familiar liturgical seasons and celebrations. He explores fears and doubts, joys and sufferings, and the graces and blessings he encounters along his final journey. With shots of humor, a few sports analogies, and a sprinkling of quotes from Karl Rahner, Rick offers wisdom for all in his poignant exploration of what it means to be a person of faith, entering the paschal mystery, ever hopeful for the life to come.

Author: Richard R. Gaillardetz
Publisher: Liturgical Press
Published: 05/19/2024
Pages: 256
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.65lbs
Size: 7.95h x 4.96w x 0.71d
ISBN: 9780814688663

About the Author
Richard R. Gaillardetz (1958-2023), held the Joseph Chair of Catholic Systematic Theology at Boston College. He published numerous articles and authored or edited twelve books, including An Unfinished Council: Vatican II, Pope Francis, and the Renewal of Catholicism and Keys to the Council: Unlocking the Teaching of Vatican II (co-authored with Catherine Clifford), both published by Liturgical Press. He was a contributor to Give Us This Day. Gaillardetz was a delegate on the US Catholic-Methodist Ecumenical Dialogue and served as president of the Catholic Theological Society of America between 2013 and 2014.

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