Washington's Catholic community lost one of its great personalities this week when Fred Rotondaro died at his home after a battle with brain cancer. He was 78. Fred is survived by his wife, Kathy; his children, Cara and Vinnie (Vinnie wrote for NCR for a time); three grandchildren; his sister Mary; and several nieces and nephews. He also left behind more friends than any of us could count.

Washington is a city with many Catholics, but most of them in "official Washington" only happen to be Catholic. Even those who take their faith very seriously do not want to be known as "the Catholic congressman" for a variety of reasons, and many of those reasons are good. In the business world, it is all too easy to go through life without ever being asked about your religion. Contemporary D.C. is like young Charles Ryder on one of his first visits to Brideshead, when he is surprised at the number of times religion pops up in conversation.