During my seminary days, I had multiple opportunities to read the work of a great American theologian -- Avery Cardinal Dulles. Word has come today that he has passed from this life into the next, at the age of 90.

Cardinal Avery Dulles, a convert to Roman Catholicism from a prominent American family who was the only U.S. theologian named a cardinal without first becoming a bishop, died Friday. He was 90.

Dulles, a Jesuit, died in an infirmary at Fordham University, where he was a professor for two decades, according to the Rev. Jim Martin of America, a Jesuit magazine that regularly published Dulles' articles.

Pope John Paul II appointed Dulles in 2001 to the College of Cardinals, making him the first American Jesuit and the first U.S. theologian outside of a diocese to be named a cardinal. He was considered the dean of American Catholic theologians.

Indeed, Pope Benedict XVI considered Dulles to be so important that the pontiff made a personal visit to the cardinal while in the United States this spring. There are few who have had such an honor -- but Dulles was an extraordinary man.

When I read Thomas Merton's The Seven Storey Mountain, I noted a passage regarding the large number of veterans attracted to the priesthood and/or monastic life following the end of the Second World War. Like Merton, Dulles was one of them, converting to Catholicism in 1946 and eventually being ordained a priest in 1956.

During Vatican II he was seen as one of the great progressives, but in his later years he was often counted among the traditionalists (quite similar to the paths taken by Bishop Karol Wotyla and Father Joseph Ratzinger, better known as Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI) -- an example, as one of my seminary professors pointed out, that the purpose of the Council may have been to modernize the Church, but not to change it in its essentials.

Dulles was often noted for his great intellect as well as his great personal holiness. Perhaps the best tribute I can give is to quote from his last lecture, one which he was too weak to deliver himself but for which he was present this past April.

"The most important thing about my career, and many of yours, is the discovery of the pearl of great price, the treasure hidden in the field -- the Lord Jesus himself."

And to that I add a hearty "AMEN".

Posted by: Greg at 05:00 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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