October 11, 2002

Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J., speech marks 40^th anniversary of Second Vatican Council

An extraordinary Jesuit and theologian, Avery Cardinal Dulles, S. J., will lecture Saturday, October 12, at 4 p.m., in Nunemaker Auditorium in commemoration of the 40^th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council. The lecture is sponsored by the Loyola Institute for the Study of Catholic Culture and Tradition and is part of the Biever Guest Lecture Series.

Dulles has been called the preeminent Catholic theologian in this country for nearly four decades. He is the Laurence J. McGinley Professor of Religion and Society at Fordham University. He has received 21 honorary doctorates and is an internationally known author and lecturer, having written 21 books and more than 650 articles, essays, and reviews. He has the extraordinary distinction of being a Jesuit priest who was made a cardinal on account of his distinguished service to the church.

Dulles is a convert to Catholicism, a process he began while receiving his education at Harvard University. He continued at Harvard to earn a law degree and then served as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Navy in World War II. He was awarded the Croix de Guerre by the French government and continued his military service in Italy.