The Legacy of Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J. His Words and His Witness

From his poems and reflections composed in prep school, where he first crossed paths with John Fitzgerald Kennedy (with whom he would graduate from Harvard in 1940), to a private meeting in his last days arranged at Pope Benedict XVI's personal request, the book explores a theological topography that includes truly monumental figures and events of the modern era. As the product of perhaps the most influential American Catholic theologian in history, Dulles's writings continue to inspire and shape the way theology has been studied and practiced in academic institutions throughout the United States and the world.
Having worked closely with Cardinal Dulles, the editors have compiled an exhaustive bibliography of his works and have included a series of essays that shed light on the twilight of his life, one that intersects with ecclesiastical, theological, philosophical, and political leaders of every stripe and worldview. Contributions include Dulles's farewell lecture as McGinley Professor of Religion and Society with a stirring response by Robert Imbelli; a reflection on the cardinal's last days by longtime research assistant Anne-Marie Kirmse, O.P.; and the moving homily given at his funeral by Edward Cardinal Egan. The book also chronicles Cardinal Dulles's relationship with Fordham University, where he began his academic career as a Jesuit regent, teaching philosophy (1951-53), and where, for the last twenty years of his life, he held an endowed chair named in honor of a former president of Fordham, Laurence J. McGinley, S.J. This text will serve as a liminal passageway into the splendid mansion of Dulles's thought for theologians, scholars, believers, and all thinking men and women of goodwill.
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