Posted on 02/23/2009 9:55:56 AM PST by NYer
A pull-quote from Milwaukee is especially fitting for this Monday morning:“I was at the vespers when he was installed as [arch]bishop. And there’s a part where the bishop knocks on the door. Most do it timidly. Tap, tap. Not him — ‘Bang! Bang!’ It echoed through the cathedral and let everyone know that Timothy Dolan was there.”And now, he's here. In the Capital of the World. And thank God.
The Church in New York, and indeed all of America, rejoices this morning at the announcement that Pope Benedict XVI has named Archbishop Timothy Michael Dolan to be the next Archbishop of New York.
I have never seen Archbishop Dolan that he didn’t have his arm around someone. We first met in Rome when, coincidentally enough, I was working on an article about Cardinal John O’Connor. Dolan was hosting a reception in his apartment at the North American College for Thanksgiving Day. Every American Catholic in the Eternal City seemed to be crammed into the rector’s living room. Cocktails flowed, cigars were lit, and the sense of loneliness one has when celebrating a national holiday abroad was dispersed thoroughly by Dolan’s hospitality....
It will be interesting to see how Dolan’s intellectual formation in history, so different from most hierarchs who have degrees in theology or canon law, will shape his tenure. But, the more enduring contribution of Ellis to Dolan (and to me) was his love of his own priesthood. He had never been a pastor in the canonical sense of the word. But, the day my best friend died from AIDS in 1989, when some religious leaders still considered AIDS a punishment from God, Msgr. Ellis helped me grieve, and find a faithful context for my grief, the way a good priest should. His devotion to the Eucharist was as obvious as his bias in favor of Cardinal Gibbons, whose biographer he was. Ellis was a priest's priest....
It has been easy to applaud most of Pope Benedict’s appointments. But, in choosing Dolan to assume the cathedra at St. Patrick’s, Benedict has made a truly great choice. Dolan will be great with the necessary, if unseemly, task of fundraising. He will be great with the media. He will help build up the morale of his clergy. Ellis once said that Cardinal O’Connor was "a lion" in the mold of the greatest of American bishops such as Gibbons, John Ireland, and John Hughes. Dolan could be another in that tradition, a bishop who is unafraid to love his flock, to defend his Church, and to preach to a culture that is desperately hungry for the Gospel. Two weeks ago, in the Gospel reading, Simon Peter said to Jesus, "Everyone is looking for you!" This is as true today as it was two thousand years ago, although many people not even know who they are looking for, or even that they are looking at all. It is Archbishop Dolan’s task to help them look for Christ and find him. I can’t think of a finer appointment. Rejoice indeed!
Dolan sent the following letter to his collaborators in Milwaukee:
Dear Friends united in love and service of Jesus Christ and His Church:
Yes, I realize these weekly communications with you usually come on Tuesday, but, I want to share with you word of an announcement to be made today.
At noon in Rome (5 a.m. our time), the Vatican will announce that Pope Benedict XVI has named me Archbishop of New York.
Today, I am in New York for the official announcement, media conference, and a day full of meetings and visits.
The installation, please God, will be on April 15, 2009, Wednesday of Easter Week.
So, there you have it. There has been, as you know, a lot of speculation about this for over a year. I have constantly responded to teasing and questions about these rumors with, “I don’t know anything about it. I want to stay right here in Milwaukee.”
I was not fibbing. It was only recently that I was told of this appointment. It’s hardly a position one applies for! I was surprised, and still am. I was not asked if I would accept the position. The Papal Nuncio to the United States, Archbishop Pietro Sambi, gently informed me, “The Holy Father has appointed you Archbishop of New York.”
Do I want to go? Do I consider myself qualified? Are there much better candidates for the position?
All of that is really beside the point. The obedience I freely and enthusiastically promised to Jesus Christ, His Church, and His vicar on earth, our Holy Father, is a very liberating act. So, I place my future in the hands of the Lord, whose grace and mercy endure forever, and I go.
As Blessed Mother Theresa of Calcutta encouraged, “Let God use you without consulting you.”
I am honored by this appointment, as I was by my appointment as Archbishop of Milwaukee, deeply grateful for the confidence of Pope Benedict XVI, and filled with hope as I anticipate serving the historic, vibrant Archdiocese of New York.
Yet, I must admit sadness in the prospect of leaving you. In my brief six and a half years as your pastor, I have come to know, love and appreciate you very much. I am at home here. It will be very tough to leave.
As you’ve heard me say so often, in the end, it’s not about me or us at all: It’s all about Jesus and His Church.
The bustling life and promising initiatives of this great Archdiocese of Milwaukee go on as strong as ever: Our parishes, schools, religious formation, outreach in charity and justice, our prayer, worship, rich sacramental life and quest for holiness, our evangelization, support of marriage and family, promotion of the culture of life, encouragement of vocations, and our fostering of stewardship in our Faith in Our Future Capital Campaign and 2009 Catholic Stewardship Appeal – this all goes on full speed ahead, because none of this depends on me, just on Jesus Christ, and your faith in His promise to remain with us forever.
In forty-eight hours we begin Lent. I’ll be with you here as your archbishop throughout these forty days. I’ll need Lent’s invitation to more intense prayer, penance, and acts of charity more than ever as I open myself to the grace and mercy of Christ on the cross. I ask you, please, to pray with and for me.
There's a certain bishop in Lincoln, Nebraska who's from the Milwaukee Archdiocese originally. :-)
This is a great appointment for the Church in New York and America at large.
Dolan may be fine (and better than the guy he replaces), but Michael Sean Winters is the ultimate pro-Obama Catholic. His endorsement should rank right in there with Nancy Pelosi’s.
Lovely.
Translation: A free pass for the Demo-Catholics.
I guess the former NAC seminarian was right who said, "His nickname is Archbishop Darf, based on the loud guffaws . . . a back-slapping, hand-shaking politician."
Oh well. The Brave New World, Catholic-style, I guess.
"Yes we can!"
No wonder so many loyal and orthodox Catholics have begun to mutter, "We just don't care . . . "
BTTT!
When Archbishop Timothy Dolan was appointed to Milwaukee, the faithful Catholics breathed a sigh of relief. After Rembert Weakland, who was a poor leader, Dolan has been dynamite for Milwaukee. My cousin will be sad today, as she was so happy with Dolan for her Archbishop. I hope they get another one like him. After suffering through all those years with Weakland, they deserve an orthodox leader in Milwaukee,
When I started looking at the pictures, I thought (you're going to think this sounds crazy), "There's something about this man that reminds me of Rush Limbaugh." And then I read the above! Adult beverages and cigars! LOL!
I think Archbishop Dolan is a sign that we're going to be all right, after all.
He's my new Archbishop, and looks like the one I've been hoping for, for a long time. The more I read, the more I'm starting to rejoice. :o)
People always make idols and then tear them down when they fail to be gods.
Hmmm... that umpire is wearing a Roman collar. (/clueless>
Dolanus bumpus ad summum
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