Archbishop's web site Denver Catholic Register Parishes Catholic Pastoral Center
September 11, 2002
Cardinal Dulles addresses seminarians, clergy on the Eucharist
Cardinal praises archdiocese as 'beacon of hope' in the American Church
By Jack Bacon
One of the Church's leading theologians addressed the archdiocese's priests, deacons and seminarians Sept. 3-4 in the fall presentation of the Cardinal Stafford Lecture Series.
Cardinal Avery Dulles, S.J., spent the first day with students at St. John Vianney Seminary, which sponsors the series inaugurated in 1999, and addressed the clergy, including Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., and Bishop José H. Gomez, S.T.D., in Bonfils Hall at the John Paul II Center Sept. 4.
Cardinal Dulles opened his presentation to the clergy with an observation that the Archdiocese of Denver is "a beacon of hope" in the American Church, judging "from echoes we get" of events here that began with the World Youth Day celebration in 1993.
The intrinsic relationship of the Eucharist and the Church was the topic of the first of the cardinal's two lectures. The second discussed "Thinking with the Church: The Ignatian Rules Today."
In "The Church and the Eucharist," Cardinal Dulles focused on the Church as the people of God, as the mystical body of Christ and as sacrament. Some activists tend to focus on the Church's power over the Eucharist, he said, and, "It's necessary to emphasize" the Eucharist as "God's gift to the Church."
As the "people of God of the new covenant," Cardinal Dulles said, the Church is intrinsically bound to the Eucharist as the continuing sacrifice without which there is no remission of sin.
"The Eucharist renews the sacrifice of the new covenant," he said. "The sacrifice of the Mass is also the action of the Church offering herself."
"The Eucharist is never an action in isolation," Cardinal Dulles said. " ... It's always offered for all the Church.
"The unity of the Church must be eucharistic," he said.
The cardinal concluded each lecture with a question-answer period. A question referring to his discussion of the "proper disposition" for receiving the Eucharist noted that a priest once had refused to say Mass for a congregation openly feuding in discordant factions on grounds that the eucharistic sacrifice would be invalid.
"I think that's going a bit far," Cardinal Dulles said. "I think we have to take people where they are. ... The validity of Mass is not dependent on the congregation."
Cardinal Dulles stressed the need for bishops to exercise discipline in the church.
"I do think we need more discipline," he reiterated.
In response to a question about what's different from the past in the Church today, Cardinal Dulles said he believes Pope John XXIII "was truly inspired" when he convened the Second Vatican Council, and suggested its most significant changes concerned "the whole concept of collegiality" and the positive approach to ecumenism "to see what's valuable" in other Christian churches and non-Christian religions.
The council "didn't radically change the teaching the Church," he said.
Father Michael G. Glenn, rector of St. John Vianney Seminary, introduced the cardinal with a summary of his achievements. Cardinal Dulles, 84, is the son of the late John Foster Dulles, secretary of state during the Eisenhower administration, and the grandson of a Presbyterian minister. He converted to Catholicism in 1946 after his discharge from the Navy and entered the Society of Jesus. He was ordained in 1956 and has taught in numerous leading universities and schools of theology. He has been awarded 27 honorary doctorates.
He was made a cardinal in February 2001 by Pope John Paul II for his contributions to theology and the mission of the Church. He has written more than 700 published articles and 21 books.
As he began his lecture, he recalled Cardinal J. Francis Stafford, former archbishop of Denver, as "a very old friend."
The Cardinal Stafford Lecture Series in Theology was inaugurated in 1999-2000 by Bishop Samuel J. Aquila of Fargo, N.D., when he was rector of the Denver seminary. Cardinal Stafford gave specific permission for use of his name in the title.
The series consists of presentations by leaders in the fields of theology in the fall and in philosophy during the seminary's spring term. Each lasts two or three days, the first for seminarians, the second for clergy and the third day, if one is scheduled, for the public.
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