On 24 August 1918 in Auburn, New York, Avery Dulles was born,
        the son of John Foster Dulles and Janet Pomeroy Avery. His father was
        Presbyterian, and his grandfather, a liberal Presbyterian theologian.
        In his youth Avery Dulles was party to much of the intrigue connected
        with members of his family. His uncle, Allen Dulles, directed
        espionage operations during the Second World War and was later head of 
        the Central Intelligence Agency. In addition to his father, other 
        forebears rose to the top of the diplomatic ladder.
              He studied in schools in New York, Switzerland and England,
        which were not strictly Presbyterian. "I never was much of a
        Protestant," he remarked. By the time he entered Harvard University in
        1936, he was a self-professed agnostic. He converted to Catholicism in
        1940.
              He acknowledged that his conversion shocked his family and
        friends, but called it "the best decision I ever made." His father
        gradually came to respect Catholics, especially as he met them
        officially. After graduating from Harvard in 1940, Avery attended
        Harvard Law School for a year-and-a-half before joining the Naval
        Reserve as an intelligence officer. In 1945 he won the 'Croix de
        Guerre' for his liaison work with the French navy. In 1946 he joined
        the Jesuits and began training for the priesthood. He was ordained in
        1956 by Cardinal Francis Spellman of New York.
             Avery Dulles is the author of 21 books and 650 articles and
        essays---the majority theological---he also taught at Catholic
        University of America in Washington, D.C., Woodstock College in
        Maryland and 15 other universities and colleges as a visiting
        professor. He holds 21 honorary doctorates and many education and
        theology awards.
              Robert D. McFadden, in a signed article in 'The New York Times',
        wrote that Father Dulles has used much of his energy as professor to
        explain the post-Vatican II reforms and the mission of the papacy,
        which he has always defended. He has been a voice communicating the
        thought of the Church in a country where many Catholics, including
        priests, have questioned the Pontiff's position on topics like
        abortion, birth control, priestly celibacy and the ordination of
        women, among others.
              At the age of eighty-two, on 21 February 2001, Pope John Paul II
        nominated him as cardinal, one of forty-four new cardinals. Father
        Dulles called his appointment "mostly honorary," since he is two years
        too old to vote in a conclave for a new pope.
 

Source:    After : AD2000 Vol 14 No 2 (March 2001).