View source for Avery Dulles

{{Short description|American Jesuit priest (1918–2008)}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| type = Cardinal
| honorific-prefix = [[His Eminence]]
| name = Avery Robert Dulles
| honorific-suffix = [[Society of Jesus|SJ]]
| title = [[Cardinal-Deacon]] of [[Gesù e Maria, Rome|SS. Nomi di Gesù e Maria]]
| image = cardinal dulles.jpg
| caption = 
| province = 
| diocese = 
| see = 
| appointed = February 21, 2001
| ended = December 12, 2008
| predecessor = [[Justinus Darmojuwono]]
| successor = [[Domenico Bartolucci]]
| ordination = June 16, 1956
| ordained_by = [[Francis Joseph Spellman]]
| consecration = 
| cardinal = February 21, 2001
| created_cardinal_by = [[Pope John Paul II]]
| rank = Cardinal-deacon
| other_post = 
| birth_name = 
| birth_date = {{birth date|1918|8|24|mf=y}}
| birth_place = [[Auburn, New York]], U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2008|12|12|1918|8|24|mf=y}}
| death_place = New York City, U.S.
| buried = Jesuit Cemetery, [[Auriesville, New York]], U.S.
| religion = Roman Catholic
| residence = 
| parents = [[John Foster Dulles]] (father)
| occupation = Catholic priest, professor, theologian, and author
| profession = 
| alma_mater = 
| signature = 
| coat_of_arms = Coat of arms of Avery Robert Dulles.svg
| motto = Scio Cui Credidi (I know whom I have believed; 2 Timothy 1:12)
}}
'''Avery Robert Dulles''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|d|ʌ|l|ɪ|s}} {{respell|DUL|iss}}; August 24, 1918 – December 12, 2008) was an American [[Jesuit]] priest, theologian, and [[Cardinal (Catholic Church)|cardinal]] of the [[Catholic Church]]. Dulles served on the faculty of [[Woodstock College]] from 1960 to 1974, of the [[Catholic University of America]] from 1974 to 1988, and as the Laurence J. McGinley Professor of Religion and Society at [[Fordham University]] from 1988 to 2008. He was also an author and lecturer.

==Early life==
Dulles was born in [[Auburn, New York]], on August 24, 1918, the son of [[John Foster Dulles]], the future [[United States Secretary of State|U.S. Secretary of State]] and for whom [[Dulles International Airport]] is named, and Janet Pomeroy Avery Dulles. His uncle was [[Director of Central Intelligence]] [[Allen Dulles]]. Both his great-grandfather [[John W. Foster]] and great-uncle [[Robert Lansing]] also served as secretary of state. His paternal grandfather, Allen Macy Dulles, was a member of the faculty of the Presbyterian [[Auburn Theological Seminary]] and published in the field of [[ecclesiology]], to which his grandson would likewise devote scholarly attention as a [[Catholic Church|Catholic]].

He received his primary school education in [[New York City]] at the [[St. Bernard's School]] and attended secondary schools in [[Switzerland]] and the [[Choate Rosemary Hall|Choate School]] (now Choate Rosemary Hall) in [[Wallingford, Connecticut]]. He then enrolled at [[Harvard College]] in 1936.

Dulles was raised a [[Presbyterian]] but had become an [[agnostic]] by the time he was a student at Harvard.<ref name="catholic-pages.com">{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20060828153240/http://www.catholic-pages.com/hierarchy/cardinals_bio.asp?ref=198 Biography of Avery Dulles]}}, ''Catholic Pages.com''</ref> His religious doubts were diminished during a personally profound moment when he stepped out into a rainy day and saw a tree beginning to flower along the [[Charles River]]; after that moment he never again "doubted the existence of an all-good and omnipotent God."<ref name="Royal">Royal, Robert [https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=4027#:~:text=Dulles%20observed%3A%20%22The%20more%20I,into%20the%20Church%20in%201940. "Avery Dulles's Long Road to Rome"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070814031814/http://www.crisismagazine.com/julaug2001/feature1.htm |date=2007-08-14 }}, ''Crisis Magazine'' July–August 2001</ref> He noted how his [[theism]] turned toward conversion to [[Catholicism]]: "The more I examined, the more I was impressed with the consistency and sublimity of Catholic doctrine."<ref name="Royal"/> He converted to Catholicism in the fall of 1940, much to the ire of his father, who nearly disowned him as a result.<ref name="catholic-pages.com"/><ref>{{Cite book  | title = As I Remember Fordham: Selections from the Sesquicentennial Oral History Project | year = 1991 | publisher = Office of the Sesquicentennial, Fordham University | location = [New York, N.Y.]  | isbn = 0-8232-1338-2 | pages = 61 }}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=Stephen Kinzer, Author, "The Brothers" | date=7 November 2013 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mxw0B8wgoQU |access-date=2024-01-24 |language=en}}</ref>

After both winning the [[Phi Beta Kappa]] Essay Prize<ref>Avery Dulles (1941), ''Princeps Concordiae:  Pico della Mirandola and the Scholastic Tradition – The Harvard Phi Beta Kappa Prize Essay for 1940'', Cambridge, MA:  Harvard.</ref> and graduating from Harvard in 1940, Dulles spent a year and a half at [[Harvard Law School]], during which time he co-founded the [[St. Benedict Abbey (Massachusetts)|"St. Benedict Center"]] with [[Catherine Goddard Clarke]]. The center later became well known due to the controversial Jesuit priest [[Leonard Feeney]]. Dulles served in the [[United States Navy]] during [[World War II]], attaining the rank of [[Lieutenant]]. For his liaison work with the [[French Navy]], Dulles was awarded the French [[Croix de Guerre 1939–1945|Croix de Guerre]].

==Society of Jesus and elevation to cardinal==
Upon his discharge from the Navy in 1946, Dulles entered the [[Society of Jesus]], and was ordained to the [[priesthood (Catholic Church)|priesthood]] in 1956. After a year in Germany, he studied [[ecclesiology]] under the American Jesuit [[Francis A. Sullivan]] at the [[Gregorian University]] in Rome, and was awarded the doctorate of sacred theology in 1960.

Dulles served on the faculty of [[Woodstock College]] from 1960 to 1974, and at the [[Catholic University of America]] from 1974 to 1988. He was a visiting professor at the Gregorian University (Rome), [[Boston College School of Theology and Ministry|Weston School of Theology]], [[Union Theological Seminary (New York City)|Union Theological Seminary]] (New York), [[Princeton Theological Seminary]], [[Virginia Theological Seminary]], [[Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg]], [[Boston College]], [[Campion Hall, Oxford]], the [[University of Notre Dame]], the [[KU Leuven|Catholic University at Leuven]], [[Yale University]], and [[St. Joseph's Seminary and College|St. Joseph's Seminary, Dunwoodie]]. He was the author of over 700 articles on theological topics, as well as twenty-two books. In 1994, he was a signer of the document ''[[Evangelicals and Catholics Together]].''

Past president of both the [[Catholic Theological Society of America]] and the [[American Theological Society]], and professor emeritus at the Catholic University of America, Dulles served on the [[International Theological Commission]] and as a member of the United States [[Catholic–Lutheran dialogue|Lutheran-Catholic Dialogue]].

Dulles was critical of [[dual-covenant theology]], especially as understood in the [[U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops]]' document ''Reflections on Covenant and Mission''.<ref>[http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=2550 "Covenant and Mission"], ''[[America Magazine]]''</ref> He was a consultant to the Committee on Doctrine of the [[National Conference of Catholic Bishops]].

Although Jesuits make a promise not to pursue ecclesiastical dignities and do not normally accept promotion within the [[Catholic Church hierarchy|Church hierarchy]], Dulles was created a cardinal on February 21, 2001, by [[Pope John Paul II]]. He was not made a [[bishop (Catholic Church)|bishop]], as is normally the case, as the pope had granted him a dispensation. His [[titular see|titular]] church and assignment was as [[Cardinal-Deacon]] of [[Santissimi Nomi di Gesù e Maria in Via Lata|SS. Nome di Gesù e Maria in Via Lata]]. Because he had reached the age of 80 before becoming cardinal, Dulles was never eligible to vote in a [[conclave]]. Dulles became an honorary, non-voting member of the [[U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops]].

==Honors and awards==
Dulles' awards included [[Phi Beta Kappa]], the [[Croix de guerre 1939–1945|Croix de Guerre]], the Cardinal Spellman Award for distinguished achievement in theology, the Boston College Presidential Bicentennial Award, the Christus Magister Medal from the [[University of Portland]] ([[Oregon]]), the Religious Education Forum Award from the [[National Catholic Educational Association]], ''[[America (Jesuit magazine)|America]]'' magazine's Campion Award, the F. Sadlier Dinger Award for contributions to the catechetical ministry of the Church, the James Cardinal Gibbons Award from [[The Catholic University of America]], the John Carroll Society Medal, the Jerome Award from the [[Catholic Library Association]], Fordham Founders Award, Gaudium Award from the [[Breukelein Institute]], and thirty-three [[honorary doctorate]]s.

==Farewell address and death==
In his later years, the cardinal lived with the effects of [[polio]] he had contracted in his youth. On April 1, 2008, Dulles gave his farewell address as Laurence J. McGinley Professor of Religion and Society. As Dulles was unable to speak, Fordham president Fr. [[Joseph A. O'Hare|Joseph O'Hare]], S.J., read his address. In addition to the loss of speech, the use of his arms was impaired but his mind remained clear and he continued to work and communicate using his computer keyboard.<ref name="A Visit with Avery Dulles">Imbelli, Robert P. [http://www.commonwealmagazine.org/blog/?p=2032 A Visit with Avery Dulles] Commonweal, June 1, 2008</ref> Fr [[Joseph M. McShane|Joseph McShane]], SJ also presented him with the university's President's Medal that evening. April 1, 2008 also marked the date the Cardinal's book, ''Church and Society: The Laurence J. McGinley Lectures, 1988–2007'' (Fordham University Press, 2008) was released.

In his Farewell Lecture, the cardinal reflected on his weakening condition:

{{blockquote|
Suffering and diminishment are not the greatest of evils but are normal ingredients in life, especially in old age. They are to be expected as elements of a full human existence.

Well into my 90th year I have been able to work productively. As I become increasingly paralyzed and unable to speak, I can identify with the many paralytics and mute persons in the Gospels, grateful for the loving and skillful care I receive and for the hope of everlasting life in Christ. If the Lord now calls me to a period of weakness, I know well that his power can be made perfect in infirmity. "Blessed be the name of the Lord!"<ref name="A Visit with Avery Dulles"/>
}}

On April 19, 2008, [[Pope Benedict XVI]] paid a visit to the ailing Dulles during [[2008 visit by Pope Benedict XVI to the United States|his visit to the United States]]. Dulles prepared his written remarks to the pope prior to the visit.<ref>[[James J. Martin (priest)|James Martin]]. [http://www.americamagazine.org/blog/entry.cfm?blog_id=2&id=F34A758D-5056-8960-3298B4FD4E55E535 "Three Unreported Papal Stories."] America. 16 May 2008. Retrieved 10 July 2009</ref>

Dulles died at 90 on December 12, 2008, at Fordham University in the [[The Bronx|Bronx]], where he had lived for many years. His remains were buried in the Jesuit cemetery in [[Auriesville, New York]].<ref>{{cite web
| last = McFadden
| first = Robert D.
| title = Cardinal Avery Dulles, Theologian, Is Dead at 90
| work = New York Times
| date = December 12, 2008
| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/13/us/13dulles.html
| access-date = December 12, 2008}}</ref>

==Works==
Dulles wrote 25 books and hundreds of articles and essays. A ''[[catalogue raisonné]]'' including his many translations, forewords, introductions, reviews and letters to the editor, was published by [[Fordham University Press]] in 2012 under the title ''The Legacy of Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J.: His Words and His Witness''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sarrocco |first=Clara |date=June 2012 |title=Briefly Reviewed |journal=New Oxford Review |volume=79 |issue=5 |url=http://www.newoxfordreview.org/briefly.jsp?did=0612-briefly |access-date=December 14, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221013139/http://www.newoxfordreview.org/briefly.jsp?did=0612-briefly |archive-date=December 21, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Partial list of publications===
* ''Princeps Concordiae: Pico della Mirandola and the Scholastic Tradition – The Harvard Phi Beta Kappa Prize Essay for 1940'', Cambridge, MA: Harvard (1941).
* ''A Testimonial To Grace'' [[Sheed & Ward]], New York (1952); the fiftieth anniversary edition of this book was republished in 1996 by the original publishers, with an afterword containing his reflections on the past fifty years.
* ''Revelation and the Quest for Unity'' (1968)
* The Survival of Dogma (1971)
* ''[[Models of the Church]]'', [[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday]] (1974), {{ISBN|978-0-385-50545-1}}
* ''Models of Revelation'' (1983)
* {{Cite book|last=Dulles|first=Avery|author-link=Avery Dulles|title=The Catholicity of the Church|year=1985|location=Oxford|publisher=Clarendon Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bPTYAAAAMAAJ|isbn=9780198266761}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Dulles|first=Avery|author-link=Avery Dulles|title=The Catholicity of the Augsburg Confession|journal=The Journal of Religion|year=1983|volume=63|issue=4|pages=337–354|doi=10.1086/487060|s2cid=170148693}}
* ''Models of the Church'' 2nd ed. (1987)
* ''The Craft of Theology: From Symbol to System'' (1992)
* ''The Assurance of Things Hoped For: A Theology of Christian Faith'' (1994)
* ''The Splendor of Faith: The Theological Vision of Pope John Paul II'' (1999; revised in 2003 for the twenty-fifth anniversary of the papal election)
* {{cite book
| title = The New World of Faith
| publisher = Our Sunday Visitor Publishing
| year = 2000
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=i9DblVIMjnwC
| isbn = 978-0-87973-692-7
}}
* {{cite book
| title = Newman, Outstanding Christian Thinkers series
| publisher = Continuum International Publishing Group
| location = London, New York
| year = 2002
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=QYdSOs5GlqQC
| isbn = 978-0-8264-6287-9
}}
* "Models of the Church", Expanded Edition, Image Classics (2002), {{ISBN|978-0-385-13368-5}}
* ''A History of Apologetics'', Rev. Edition, San Francisco: Ignatius Press (2005), {{ISBN|978-0-89870-933-9}}
* ''Magisterium: Teacher and Guardian of the Faith'', Sapientia Press of Ave Maria University (2007), {{ISBN|1-932589-38-4}}
* ''Church and Society: The Laurence J. McGinley Lectures, 1988–2007'', Fordham University Press (2008), {{ISBN|0-8232-2862-2}}
* {{cite book
| author = Avery Robert Dulles, [[Leon Klenicki]], [[Edward Idris Cassidy]]
| title = The Holocaust, never to be forgotten
| publisher = Paulist Press
| year = 2001
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=_gPLvmEWqdwC
| isbn = 978-0-8091-3985-9
}}

* {{cite book
| author = Avery Dulles (Author), [[R. R. Reno|R.R. Reno]] (Introduction)
| title = The Orthodox Imperative: Selected Essays of Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J.
| publisher = First Things Press
| year = 2012
}}

==References==
{{Portal|Biography}}
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* Initial text based on faculty bio posted with permission from Avery Dulles
* [http://www.fordham.edu/dulles/ Faculty Homepage]
* [http://www.ratzingerfanclub.com/Dulles/ Cardinal Avery Dulles Online Archive]
* [http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bdulles.html Catholic Hierarchy – information on Cardinal Dulles]
* [https://cardinals.fiu.edu/bios-d.htm#Dulles Cardinal Avery Dulles] 
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20060828153240/http://catholic-pages.com/hierarchy/cardinals_bio.asp?ref=198 Catholic pages Cardinal Dulles bio]}}
* {{C-SPAN|1007789}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-rel|ca}}
{{succession box |
        title=[[Gesù e Maria (Rome)|Cardinal-Deacon of Santissimi<br />Nome di Gesù e Maria in Via Lata]] |
        before=[[Justinus Darmojuwono]] |
        after=[[Domenico Bartolucci]] |
        years=2001–2008 | }}
{{s-aca}}
{{s-new|office}}
{{s-ttl|title=Laurence J. McGinley Chair in<br />Religion and Society at [[Fordham University]]|years=1988–2008}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Patrick Ryan (Jesuit priest)|Patrick Ryan]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Modernism in the Catholic Church}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dulles, Avery}}
[[Category:1918 births]]
[[Category:2008 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American Jesuits]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
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[[Category:21st-century American cardinals]]
[[Category:21st-century American Jesuits]]
[[Category:21st-century American male writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American Roman Catholic theologians]]
[[Category:American male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:American recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France)]]
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[[Category:Cardinals created by Pope John Paul II]]
[[Category:Catholics from New York (state)]]
[[Category:Catholic University of America faculty]]
[[Category:Choate Rosemary Hall alumni]]
[[Category:Clergy with disabilities]]
[[Category:Converts to Roman Catholicism from atheism or agnosticism]]
[[Category:Deaths from polio]]
[[Category:Dulles family|Avery]]
[[Category:Fordham University faculty]]
[[Category:Harvard College alumni]]
[[Category:Harvard Law School alumni]]
[[Category:International Theological Commission]]
[[Category:Jesuit cardinals]]
[[Category:Jesuit theologians]]
[[Category:People from Auburn, New York]]
[[Category:Pontifical Gregorian University alumni]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Catholic Theological Society of America]]
[[Category:Religious leaders from the Bronx]]
[[Category:St. Bernard's School alumni]]
[[Category:United States Navy officers]]
[[Category:United States Navy personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Virginia Theological Seminary faculty]]