Obituary: Cardinal Avery Dulles 1918 – 2008
Obituary: Fr Richard John Neuhaus 1936-2009
Brilliance, simplicity, kindness: Dulles had it all
By Beth Griffin
NEW YORK (CNS) – Cardinal Avery Dulles was remembered as a theologian, mentor, counsellor and “a priest’s priest” at his funeral on December 18 at St Patrick’s Cathedral in New York.
At the request of Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Edward M Egan of New York was the principal celebrant of the Mass. Five other cardinals, 20 archbishops and bishops and more than 125 priests concelebrated. Among the mourners were Archbishop Demetrios, primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in America, and representatives of ecumenical organisations.
Cardinal Dulles died on December 12 aged 90. Since 1988, he had been a professor of religion and society at Jesuit-run Fordham University in New York. In 2001, the Jesuit priest was the first American to be named a cardinal without first being a bishop.
Cardinal Egan, who was elevated by Pope John Paul II at the same consistory, said Cardinal Dulles’ life story mixed triumph with suffering. He described a crucifix he saw as a seminarian in Umbria, Italy, that showed Christ’s face as joyful or tortured, depending on the viewer’s position. He said: “Death will always have two faces and neither should be ignored.”
Cardinal Egan said Cardinal Dulles’ triumphs included an unequaled career as an acclaimed American Catholic theologian and author of 23 books and more than 800 articles on “every aspect of theology.” He taught theology at colleges and seminaries in the United States and overseas, advised and wrote for departments at the Vatican and the US Conference of Catholic Bishops and served as the president of both the Catholic Theological Society of America and the American Theological Society.
His physical suffering related to polio he contracted during World War II. He recovered from the initial bout, but developed post-polio syndrome 20 years before he died and was paralysed and unable to speak in recent months.
Cardinal Egan quoted from Cardinal Dulles’ final lecture, delivered on April 1, 2008, at Fordham University by Jesuit Fr Joseph O’Hare, to describe Cardinal Dulles’ acceptance of suffering:
“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 paralysed 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!’”
Jesuit Fr David Ciancimino, provincial of the New York province of the Society of Jesus, spoke at the end of the funeral Mass. He acknowledged the many tributes that called Cardinal Dulles a theologian, mentor and counsellor, but said he was “first and foremost a man in service to the Church, a man who shunned the limelight.”
“To Jesuits, he was our older, wiser brother,” who prepared his own breakfast, did his own laundry, decorated the Christmas tree and took his place in the Mass rotation in each place he lived, Fr Ciancimino said. “He modelled the Jesuit life in genuine service.”
Jesuit Fr Drew Christiansen, editor-in-chief of America magazine, said Cardinal Dulles was a “theological communicator. He wrote in a way that most people could understand. He was a man for whom details were important. So often they’re missed in the sound-bite (reporting) of today.”
He said Cardinal Dulles demonstrated how a scholar can hand on the church tradition and refine the understanding of it for a contemporary audience.
Fr Christensen said that commentators who try to label Cardinal Dulles have perhaps neglected his early writings. He said, “The sources of theology always escape precise articulation, because what we’re drawing on is much greater than we can put into words.”
Fr James Massa, executive director of the USCCB Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, was a student of Cardinal Dulles. He said Cardinal Dulles was an encouraging, patient and pastoral mentor who encouraged him to study the ecclesiology of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who later became Pope Benedict XVI.
Fr Massa said Cardinal Dulles’ evolving theological position was “evidence of a real dynamism that took into account new realities in the Church.” He cited Cardinal Dulles’ reflections on ecumenism.
“Early on, he was more hopeful about the possibility of convergence on doctrinal matters, like the Petrine ministry, but later he was more sober about that,” he said.
Avery Dulles’ words of wisdom
– During a workshop in Texas in 1993, Father Dulles spoke of the ways
church life is affected by dissent on Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul VI’s
encyclical on human life and birth control. He said the ripple effect
of dissent “threatens to frustrate many of” Vatican II’s intentions and
said dissenters “must recognise that public dissent” impairs the
magisterium’s authority “and weakens the Church as a community of faith
and witness,” and those strongly convinced by the arguments for or
against contraception should “respect the intelligence and sincerity of
those with whom they differ.” He said Humanae Vitae should not be the
litmus test in appointments to seminary professorships, but added that
“theologians who aggressively attack the encyclical would seem to
disqualify themselves” from a canonical mission to teach with
hierarchical approval.
– On the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, he said in 2005: “In
the end we have to acknowledge that the mystery is ineffable and should
be greeted with wonder and amazement. … Nevertheless, something
should be said, because God has not revealed himself simply to mystify
us. Christ’s presence in this sacrament resembles that of the soul in
the body. My soul is not partly in my head, partly in my heart, partly
in my hands, but is entirely present in the whole and in every part.”
‘Gold standard’ who would not shy away
By Chaz Muth
“Fr Neuhaus was an inspirational leader, admired theologian and accomplished author who devoted his life to the service of the Almighty and to the betterment of our world,” Bush said in a January 8 statement. “He was also a dear friend, and I have treasured his wise counsel and guidance.”
Fr Neuhaus, 72, was hospitalised in New York the day after Christmas with a systemic infection, according to information posted on the Web site of First Things, an ecumenical journal he founded in 1990 which was published by the Institute on Religion and Public Life.
A former Lutheran minister who became a Catholic priest in 1991, the prolific author was diagnosed with cancer in late November.
A funeral Mass was celebrated for Fr Neuhaus on January 13 at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in New York.
“The life and ministry of Fr Richard John Neuhaus have had a profound influence on a generation of intellectuals and Christian believers,” said US Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio. “His legacy will be one of building bridges across theological lines in the defence of life and truth. Fr Neuhaus set the gold standard for ecumenical and interfaith cooperation.”
Fr Neuhaus wrote several books commenting on contemporary issues and the role of the Church in society. In First Things he regularly published long analyses on contemporary topics as diverse as theological disputes between Catholics and Protestants, abortion policies and the application of just-war principles in foreign policy.
In the late 1960s he gained national prominence as a co-founder of Clergy and Laymen Concerned About Vietnam, became an outspoken advocate of “democratic capitalism” throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and in recent years compared the pro-life struggle to the 1960s’ civil rights movement.
During the 2004 presidential campaign, Fr Neuhaus was a leading advocate for denying Communion to Catholic politicians who supported abortion and voted against church teaching on life issues.
“Fr Neuhaus was a gift to us all,” said Patrick Reilly, president of the Cardinal Newman Society, a Catholic-college-watchdog group based in Manassas, Virginia. “With his passage from this world, the Cardinal Newman Society mourns not only the passing of a heroic defender of truth, especially in higher education, but also a beloved adviser, generous supporter and dear friend.”
In a commentary published in a 1999 issue of First Things, Fr Neuhaus blasted Catholic college presidents who permitted politicians working to keep abortion legal to be the commencement speakers at graduations on their campuses. “While effusively affirming their devotion to their ‘Catholic identity,’ they deny it by the most egregious of actions,” he wrote in the commentary. “Being chosen as commencement speaker is as great an honour as most institutions provide. Chatter about ‘Catholic identity’ or, even more tenuously, ‘education in the Jesuit tradition’ is, a Jewish friend observes, comparable to advertising ‘kosherlike’ hot dogs. Few things can constitute a more explicit, in-your-face denial of Catholic seriousness than the choice of pro-abortion commencement speakers.”
