Avery Robert Dulles (/ˈdʌlɪs/DUL-iss; August 24, 1918 – December 12, 2008) was an AmericanJesuit priest, theologian, andcardinal of theCatholic Church. Dulles served on the faculty ofWoodstock College from 1960 to 1974, of theCatholic University of America from 1974 to 1988, and as the Laurence J. McGinley Professor of Religion and Society atFordham University from 1988 to 2008. He was also an author and lecturer.

His Eminence Avery Robert Dulles SJ
Cardinal-Deacon ofSS. Nomi di Gesù e Maria
Appointed	February 21, 2001
Term ended	December 12, 2008
Predecessor	Justinus Darmojuwono
Successor	Domenico Bartolucci
Orders
Ordination	June 16, 1956 by Francis Joseph Spellman
Created cardinal	February 21, 2001 byPope John Paul II
Rank	Cardinal-deacon
Personal details
Born	(1918-08-24)August 24, 1918 Auburn, New York, U.S.
Died	December 12, 2008(2008-12-12) (aged 90) New York City, U.S.
Buried	Jesuit Cemetery,Auriesville, New York, U.S.
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Parents	John Foster Dulles (father)
Occupation	Catholic priest, professor, theologian, and author
Motto	Scio Cui Credidi (I know whom I have believed; 2 Timothy 1:12)
Coat of arms

Dulles was born inAuburn, New York, on August 24, 1918, the son ofJohn Foster Dulles, the futureU.S. Secretary of State and for whomDulles International Airport is named, and Janet Pomeroy Avery Dulles. His uncle wasDirector of Central IntelligenceAllen Dulles. Both his great-grandfatherJohn W. Foster and great-uncleRobert Lansing also served as secretary of state. His paternal grandfather, Allen Macy Dulles, was a member of the faculty of the PresbyterianAuburn Theological Seminary and published in the field ofecclesiology, to which his grandson would likewise devote scholarly attention as aCatholic.

He received his primary school education inNew York City at theSt. Bernard's School and attended secondary schools inSwitzerland and theChoate School (now Choate Rosemary Hall) inWallingford, Connecticut. He then enrolled atHarvard College in 1936.

Dulles was raised aPresbyterian but had become anagnostic by the time he was a student at Harvard.^[1] 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 theCharles River; after that moment he never again "doubted the existence of an all-good and omnipotent God."^[2] He noted how histheism turned toward conversion toCatholicism: "The more I examined, the more I was impressed with the consistency and sublimity of Catholic doctrine."^[2] He converted to Catholicism in the fall of 1940, much to the ire of his father, who nearly disowned him as a result.^[1][3][4]

After both winning thePhi Beta Kappa Essay Prize^[5] and graduating from Harvard in 1940, Dulles spent a year and a half atHarvard Law School, during which time he co-founded the"St. Benedict Center" withCatherine Goddard Clarke. The center later became well known due to the controversial Jesuit priestLeonard Feeney. Dulles served in theUnited States Navy duringWorld War II, attaining the rank ofLieutenant. For his liaison work with theFrench Navy, Dulles was awarded the FrenchCroix de Guerre.

Upon his discharge from the Navy in 1946, Dulles entered theSociety of Jesus, and was ordained to thepriesthood in 1956. After a year in Germany, he studiedecclesiology under the American JesuitFrancis A. Sullivan at theGregorian University in Rome, and was awarded the doctorate of sacred theology in 1960.

Dulles served on the faculty ofWoodstock College from 1960 to 1974, and at theCatholic University of America from 1974 to 1988. He was a visiting professor at the Gregorian University (Rome),Weston School of Theology,Union Theological Seminary (New York),Princeton Theological Seminary,Virginia Theological Seminary,Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg,Boston College,Campion Hall, Oxford, theUniversity of Notre Dame, theCatholic University at Leuven,Yale University, andSt. 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 documentEvangelicals and Catholics Together.

Past president of both theCatholic Theological Society of America and theAmerican Theological Society, and professor emeritus at the Catholic University of America, Dulles served on theInternational Theological Commission and as a member of the United StatesLutheran-Catholic Dialogue.

Dulles was critical ofdual-covenant theology, especially as understood in theU.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' documentReflections on Covenant and Mission.^[6] He was a consultant to the Committee on Doctrine of theNational Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Although Jesuits make a promise not to pursue ecclesiastical dignities and do not normally accept promotion within theChurch hierarchy, Dulles was created a cardinal on February 21, 2001, byPope John Paul II. He was not made abishop, as is normally the case, as the pope had granted him a dispensation. Histitular church and assignment was asCardinal-Deacon ofSS. 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 aconclave. Dulles became an honorary, non-voting member of theU.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Dulles' awards includedPhi Beta Kappa, theCroix de Guerre, the Cardinal Spellman Award for distinguished achievement in theology, the Boston College Presidential Bicentennial Award, the Christus Magister Medal from theUniversity of Portland (Oregon), the Religious Education Forum Award from theNational Catholic Educational Association,America magazine's Campion Award, the F. Sadlier Dinger Award for contributions to the catechetical ministry of the Church, the James Cardinal Gibbons Award fromThe Catholic University of America, the John Carroll Society Medal, the Jerome Award from theCatholic Library Association, Fordham Founders Award, Gaudium Award from theBreukelein Institute, and thirty-threehonorary doctorates.

In his later years, the cardinal lived with the effects ofpolio 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 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.^[7] FrJoseph 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:

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!"^[7]

On April 19, 2008,Pope Benedict XVI paid a visit to the ailing Dulles duringhis visit to the United States. Dulles prepared his written remarks to the pope prior to the visit.^[8]

Dulles died at 90 on December 12, 2008, at Fordham University in theBronx, where he had lived for many years. His remains were buried in the Jesuit cemetery inAuriesville, New York.^[9]

Dulles wrote 25 books and hundreds of articles and essays. Acatalogue raisonné including his many translations, forewords, introductions, reviews and letters to the editor, was published byFordham University Press in 2012 under the titleThe Legacy of Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J.: His Words and His Witness.^[10]

• 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 GraceSheed & 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 (1974),ISBN 978-0-385-50545-1
• Models of Revelation (1983)
• Dulles, Avery (1985).The Catholicity of the Church. Oxford: Clarendon Press.ISBN 9780198266761.
• Dulles, Avery (1983). "The Catholicity of the Augsburg Confession".The Journal of Religion.63 (4):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)
• The New World of Faith. Our Sunday Visitor Publishing. 2000.ISBN 978-0-87973-692-7.
• Newman, Outstanding Christian Thinkers series. London, New York: Continuum International Publishing Group. 2002.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
• Avery Robert Dulles,Leon Klenicki,Edward Idris Cassidy (2001).The Holocaust, never to be forgotten. Paulist Press.ISBN 978-0-8091-3985-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

• Avery Dulles (Author),R.R. Reno (Introduction) (2012).The Orthodox Imperative: Selected Essays of Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J. First Things Press.{{cite book}}:|author= has generic name (help)

• Initial text based on faculty bio posted with permission from Avery Dulles
• Faculty Homepage
• Cardinal Avery Dulles Online Archive
• Catholic Hierarchy – information on Cardinal Dulles
• Cardinal Avery DullesArchived 2000-09-02 at theWayback Machine
• Catholic pages Cardinal Dulles bio^[usurped]
• Appearances onC-SPAN