Dulles, Avery (1918-2008), was named a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church by Pope John Paul II in 2001. Dulles, a Jesuit priest, spent most of his career teaching theology at American universities. He became the first American theologian to be named to the College of Cardinals.
Avery Robert Dulles was born on Aug. 24, 1918, in Auburn, New York. His father was John Foster Dulles, the United States secretary of state from 1953 to 1959, during the administration of President Dwight Eisenhower. Avery Dulles was raised a Presbyterian. He converted to Roman Catholicism in 1940, the year he graduated from Harvard University. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1942 to 1946, during World War II (1939-1945).
In 1946, Dulles joined the Jesuit order (religious community) and began studying for the priesthood. He was ordained a priest in 1956. Dulles was a professor of philosophy at Fordham University from 1951 to 1953. He taught at the Catholic University of America from 1974 to 1988. In 1988, he returned to Fordham, where he was a professor of religion and society until he retired in 2007. Dulles wrote more than 20 books. They include Models of the Church (1974), A Church to Believe In (1982), and The Reshaping of Catholicism (1988). Dulles died on Dec. 12, 2008.
