From his official bio..
Upon his discharge from the Navy in 1946, Avery Dulles entered the Jesuit Order, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1956. After a year in Germany, he studied at the Gregorian University in Rome, and was awarded the doctorate in Sacred Theology in 1960. He was created a Cardinal of the Catholic Church in Rome on February 21, 2001 by Pope John Paul II, the first American-born theologian who is not a bishop to receive this honor.Father: John Foster Dulles
(February 25, 1888 – May 24, 1959) served as U.S. Secretary of State under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1959. He was a significant figure in the early Cold War era, advocating an aggressive stance against communism around the world. He advocated support of the French in their war against the Viet Minh in Indochina and it is widely believed that he refused to shake the hand of Zhou Enlai at the Geneva Conference in 1954. He also played a great part in the CIA operations to overthrow thedemocraticMossadegh government of Iran in 1953 (Operation Ajax) and thedemocraticArbenz government of Guatemala in 1954 (Operation PBSUCCESS).~~snip~~ Both his grandfather John W. Foster and his uncle Robert Lansing served as Secretary of State. He was also the older brother of Allen Welsh Dulles, Director of Central Intelligence under Eisenhower. On June 26, 1912, he married Janet Avery, with whom he had two sons and a daughter. One of their sons, Avery Dulles, converted to Catholicism, entered the Jesuit order and became the first American priest to be directly appointed Cardinal.
It seems the Cardinal could have served the people in many ways, he choose the Priesthood. Wahatta guy!
(No offense but I can't find anything about him having Polio as a child? Plus he was in the US Navy during WWII.)
My wife an I were both students at Fordham, and although we never had Avery Dulles as a prof, we did have the opportunity to hear his sermons at Mass. As one might expect, he was a homilist of the very highest order, and a model of humility as well.
Eternal rest grant to him, O Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, in the mercy of God, rest in peace.