On the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, December 12, Avery Dulles died. It is not widely known, but the famous Jesuit theologian was, with Catherine Goddard Clark and Christopher Huntington, one of the three founders of the original Saint Benedict Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Sister Catherine was, in fact, instrumental in the young Dulles’ conversion to Catholicism, and became his godmother when he was received into the Church.
The talented son of John Foster Dulles was one of the two hundred or so Saint Benedict Center affiliated youth who were directed by Father Feeney into the priesthood or religious life. Soon after he joined the Jesuits, Dulles came under the influence of those in the Society who were inimical to Father Feeney.
The Jesuit’s love for Father Feeney, albeit admixed with calumnies he had imbibed about his former mentor, was artfully expressed in an article he wrote for America magazine on the death of Father Feeney: “Leonard Feeney: In Memoriam.”
May they both rest in peace.
