Friday, December 12, 2008

Requiscat in Pace


Cardinal Avery Dulles died today. He was 90 years old. The grandson of a Presbyterian minister, he was the son of Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, who served under the Eisenhower administration.

I read his Models of the Church while at Notre Dame, and had the privilege of hearing him speak here in Eugene shortly after we arrived.
One can get a sample of the breadth of his mind and spirit by simply browsing the articles he wrote for the journal First Things.

He impressed me as a wise, gentle, and godly man. Indeed, whenever I picture the apostle John at the end of his life, I think of Avery Dulles. Long ago Etienne Gilson wrote an essay, "The Intelligence in the Service of Christ the King." Avery Dulles lived out that service.

>Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine;
et lux perpetua luceat eis ;
cum Sanctis tuis in aeternum,
quia pius es.

No comments: