Bishop Dolan Embarks

Incoming Archbishop Dolan of New York is friendly but firm:

NEW YORK (AP) — New York Archbishop-designate Timothy Dolan said Monday, on the eve of his installation, that he will challenge the idea that the Roman Catholic Church is unenlightened because it opposes gay marriage and abortion.

In an exclusive interview with The Associated Press, Dolan said he wants to restore pride in being Catholic, especially given the damage the church endured in the clergy sex abuse scandal, which he called a continuing source of shame.

"One would hope that through education and through the joy that we give by our lives that people will begin to see that these fears and this skepticism we have about the church are unwarranted," Dolan said.

He said Catholics also must defend themselves against bias, which he said was still deeply ingrained in American culture.

"Periodically, we Catholics have to stand up and say, `Enough,'" he said. "The church as a whole still calls out to what is noble in us."

Strikes me as a Catholic "speak softly but carry a big stick" kind of guy. Or better yet: "I'm sorry, you're wrong. We can still be freinds, though." May be just what New York needs; time will tell.

The Irish Have It

The AP reports:

NEW YORK (AP) — Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy Dolan will be appointed the next Roman Catholic archbishop of New York, The Associated Press has learned.

The Vatican is expected to announce Dolan's appointment Monday, according to a church official with knowledge of when Vatican appointments are announced. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss the selection.[...]

Dolan, 59, has been Milwaukee's archbishop since 2002. He previously served as rector of the North American College in Rome, the elite seminary for U.S. priests, where he had studied for his own ordination years earlier.

[...]Dolan's appointment will continue a chain of Irish-heritage archbishops that was broken only once in two centuries, when a French-born prelate, John Dubois, was appointed to New York in 1826.

Dolan's Wikipedia profile continues:

In the 2008 presidential election, Dolan rebuked Democratic vice-presidential candidate Sen. Joe Biden and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi for "misrepresenting timeless Church doctrine" on abortion, which the Archbishop called the "premier civil rights issue of our day."

The Archbishop is considered to be theologically conservative, but once stated, "Titles of liberal and conservative don't cut much mustard with me."

He is presently chairman of the board of directors of Catholic Relief Services, and a member of the Board of Trustees of The Catholic University of America. Within the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, he chairs the Priestly Life and Ministry Committee and sits on the Subcommittee on the Church in Africa.