Cardinal Avery Dulles, S.J., recently delivered his final lecture as McGinley Professor at Fordham University. More accurately, his lecture was delivered for him—by Fr. Joseph O’Hare, former President of Fordham.
I was deeply saddened when I watched the video of Cardinal Dulles’ valedictory lecture. (Cf. http://www.fordham.edu/media/dulles/DULLES_Farewell.ram). This most respected, most erudite of theologians in North America, son of John Foster Dulles (who was Secretary of State under Eisenhower and after whom Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C. is named), is now in his ‘90’s. As a result apparently of polio contracted in his youth, the Cardinal is now partially paralyzed and unable to speak.
I first met Cardinal Dulles in July, 1989, when he was still Fr. Avery Dulles. During my first week in the United States, as I was on my way to Washington, D.C. to begin my graduate studies in theology, I had the privilege of having a private meeting with him at the University of San Francisco. I remember little about that thirty-minute encounter beyond a still painful sense of profound embarrassment at my stammering inability to answer his simple questions about my theological interests with any measure of intelligence. I do recall that he began our conversation by asking me, in a sort of mock-dramatic way, as he pointed to my chair: “Do you realize who was sitting in that chair yesterday?” When I confessed ignorance, he answered in the same stentorian tones: “The great Catalino AREVALO!” Apparently, the day before my meeting with Fr. Dulles, Fr. Arevalo had visited Fr. Dulles. The thought of having to follow Fr. Arevalo, and possibly being compared (no doubt, unfavorably) with him, completely unnerved me.
Given the unpromising first impression I probably gave Fr. Dulles, I was very pleasantly surprised when he accepted my invitation to be the first reader for my doctoral dissertation in 1993. He had left the Catholic University of America for Fordham by then, but, as Professor Emeritus of CUA, he was still available to help graduate students like myself. I submitted my chapters dutifully, as I churned them out. Amazingly, given all his other commitments, without fail I would receive my corrected chapter back within a week, complete with handwritten notes and comments. I have kept those handwritten scribblings of Cardinal Dulles as treasured relics.
I met him again at Oxford in 1995, when I attended a theological conference on John Henry Newman, at which Fr. Dulles delivered a lecture. My proudest moment during that conference took place after I had preached the homily at the Eucharist on the Feast of St. Dominic in Oriel College, Oxford. Fr. Dulles was in the congregation, along with the other conference participants. At the end of Mass, he came up to me and said, in that austere, spare way of his, “That was an architecturally perfect homily.” I was not completely sure what he meant, but it sounded like a compliment, and I was flattered no end.
He came down to Washington, D.C. from New York, for the two days of my doctoral lectio and defense in 1996. He was a demanding, but not unkind examiner. But what I remember most was a little incident during Morning Prayer at Carroll House, the Jesuit community where I lived, and where Fr. Dulles stayed for those two days. During the prayers of intercession during Morning Prayer, Fr. Dulles, without any drama or pretentiousness said something like, “Let us pray for my friend Peggy Rockefeller, who passed away yesterday.” I think all of us were dumbfounded that here was a Jesuit who moved familiarly, apparently without any sense of discomfort, among Rockefellers!
Whatever judgments are made about his more recent theological positions and writings, I think that his most substantial works, written in his prime, will stand the test of time. The Dimensions of the Church, Models of the Church, Models of Revelation, The Assurance of Things Hoped For, The Craft of Theology, and for me, above all, The Catholicity of the Church are major theological works that manifest all the virtues of vintage Dulles: breathtaking erudition and knowledge of the tradition and history of Catholic theology; judicious, careful, unfailingly fair judgments; a lucid, austerely elegant style. His intellectual virtues, in a way, are a reflection of his personal ones: humility, kindness, diligence and dedication to work--and a quiet, dry sense of humor! It is no wonder that in his introduction to Cardinal Dulles during the McGinley lecture, Fr. McShane, the president President of Fordham, refers to the Cardinal's reputation as a saint.
I was delighted to learn that, during his recent pastoral visit to the United States, before his meeting with young people at Dunwoodie, the Holy Father graciously made time for a brief and moving meeting with Cardinal Dulles. (http://www.fordham.edu/campus_resources/public_affairs/archives/2008/archive_1244.asp)
The final paragraphs of Cardinal Dulles’ valedictory lecture, are quoted below. Uncharacteristically personal, they are written without any trace of sentimentality or self-promotion. Instead, they exude serenity amidst suffering, a deep sense of contentment with one’s lot in life, a purity of spiritual freedom--all borne of an obviously profound faith in Christ. I hope, that if and when my time comes to experience diminishment like this, I can have even a fraction of Avery Dulles’ faith and love. In the meantime, I pray for this great Jesuit, theologian and servant of the Church.
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From Cardinal Dulles’ Final McGinley Lecture, April 2008:
"As I approach the termination of my active life, I gratefully acknowledge that a benign providence has governed my days. The persons I have met, the places I have been, the things I have been asked to do, have all coalesced into a pattern, so that each stage of my life has prepared me for the next. My 20 years on the McGinley Chair have been a kind of climax, at least from my personal point of view. I often feel that there is no one on earth with whom I would want to exchange places. It has been a special privilege to serve in the Society of Jesus, a religious community specially dedicated to the Savior of the world.
The good life does not have to be an easy one, as our blessed Lord and the saints have taught us. Pope John Paul II in his later years used to say, “The Pope must suffer.” Suffering and diminishment are not the greatest of evils, but are normal ingredients in life, especially in old age. They are to be accepted 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!”"
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