A ‘model theologian’ prepares to step aside
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- March
- 27
Cardinal Avery Dulles has this to say about being made a cardinal in St. Peter’s Square in 2001:
I enjoyed it, but that’s not really what counts. I prefer to spend my time reading, thinking, writing, teaching. I’m not particularly made for ceremonies.
Dulles is profiled in the current issue of the Fordham alumni magazine. Dulles, who will turn 90 in August, is retiring at the end of the academic year as the Laurence J. McGinley Professor of Religion and Society at Fordham.
He will deliver his 39th and final McGinley lecture at Fordham’s Bronx campus on Tuesday. It is billed as his farewell address.
His story is legendary among people who follow these things. The son of John Foster Dulles, secretary of state under Eisenhower and a prominent Presbyterian, Avery Dulles made quite a splash when he converted to Catholicism and was ordained a priest in 1956.
Dulles has written 25 books and published hundreds of articles. He is considered one of Catholicism’s keenest American minds. He is often described as having taken the usual journey from moderation to conservativism, but it’s more complicated than that, of course.
He has said that it is the theologian’s job to “show why the church is teaching what she is.”
I’ve had the opportunity to interview Dulles twice. He was gracious, humble and chose his words carefully. I don’t think he’s too smitten with the secular media.
I asked him in 2001, weeks before he was made a cardinal, why theology should matter to Catholics in the pews. He answered:
When one believes, you should want to know more about what and why. What are the implications of belief? If you understand marriage as a sacrament, for instance, like the marriage between Christ and the church, you may have a better marriage than those who do not. Theology has real relevance.
He told me in 2005 that he had no plans to write a memoir. That’s too bad.
This entry was posted
on Thursday, March 27th, 2008 at 8:51 am by Gary Stern.
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The world of religion, we don't have to tell you, is vast. The purpose of this blog is for Stern to note, flag and comment on some of the more interesting religious developments on the scene – weighty and quirky, somber and laughable, far away and just down the road. He won't interpret Scripture, take sides in conflicts or judge anyone. But he will take advantage of the journalist's license to observe.
Thanks for posting this info, Gary. Cardinal Dulles is, as you note, a brilliant and gracious man (I’ve had the pleasure of talking to him a few times). Like you, I really hope he writes a memoir; it would be fascinating.