(December 15, 2008) Pope Benedict XVI has expressed his condolences at the death
of Cardinal Avery Dulles, who passed away on Friday. He was 90. In a message to
Cardinal Edward Egan of New York, where Cardinal Dulles resided, the Pope said he
commended his "noble soul to God, the Father of mercies." Avery Dulles was the son
of U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles. He embraced Catholicism as an adult,
and was made a cardinal without episcopal ordination. The Holy Father expressed his
"immense gratitude for the deep learning, serene judgment and unfailing love of the
Lord and his Church which marked his entire priestly ministry and his long years of
teaching and theological research." "At the same time," the message continued, "I
pray that his convincing personal testimony to the harmony of faith and reason will
continue to bear fruit for the conversion of minds and hearts and the progress of
the Gospel for many years to come.