Cardinal Dulles gives farewell speech as Fordham's McGinley professor

Published: 2008-04-04

NEW YORK (CNS) -- Warmth and congeniality characterized Cardinal Avery Dulles' farewell address April 1 as the Laurence J. McGinley professor of religion and society at Jesuit-run Fordham University. Cardinal Dulles, a Jesuit theologian, ended his 20-year series of annual McGinley lectures, from 1988 to 2008, with a short summation of his theology and his ministry and a synopsis of his previous lectures. The 89-year-old cardinal has addressed theological issues and spoken on secular issues such as politics, human rights and the death penalty. The cardinal is now confined to a wheelchair and incapable of prolonged speech as a result of post-polio syndrome, which he originally contracted when he was in the Navy 62 years ago, so Jesuit Father Joseph P O'Hare, Fordham's former president, gave his presentation for him. Father Robert P. Imbelli, a New York archdiocesan priest, who is associate theology professor at Jesuit-run Boston College, presented an analysis of the cardinal's speech. The priest referred to himself as a "Jesuit 'in pectore,'" or "in his heart," which refers to the pope's privilege of naming cardinals whose names he keeps a secret. "I think of myself as a moderate trying to make peace between (opposing) schools of thought. While doing so, however, I insist on logical consistency. Unlike certain relativists of our time, I abhor mixtures of contradiction," Cardinal Dulles said.

Copyright (c) 2008 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .