This thread has me thinking about priests from a few years ago who had a certain charisma and a media presence, but who either died or retired from view, often due to old age. I’m thinking of Msgr. Thomas Hartman of the God Squad (who died), and Fr. John Catoir of the Christophers and Fr. Peter J. M. Stravinskas, who published the Catholic Answer, neither of whom I see much of any more. Then there were lightning-rod priests like Fr. Richard McBrien and Fr. Andrew Greeley, both of whom caused quite a stir in their day, but it seems as though they are now both quickly being forgotten ( and many, I’m sure, would say, rightly so).
I wonder which of our current “celebrity” priests will have a truly long-lasting legacy, like Bishop Fulton Sheen or Thomas Merton, both of whom are still quite relevant for many of us, in their own ways, many years after their deaths?