Getting to Know the New Archbishop, Staten Island Advance, April 15, 2009

Getting to Know the New Archbishop

Staten Island Advance
April 15, 2009

http://blog.silive.com/beyondbeliefs/2009/04/getting_to_know_the_new_archbi.html

Archbishop Timothy Dolan has been described as "relaxed" with the media, and this morning at a press conference in the Catholic Center — before his marathon installation mass — he was jovial, at ease, even apologetic at times when he said he felt like he was dodging a question. Reporters he had met before he remembered by name and circumstance. Not bad for someone who admits to not being sure how far away the archdiocese's northern border is. (He didn't mention the southern border, Tottenville, this morning, but Staten Island was mentioned twice in his homily at mass).

Archbishop Timothy Dolan laughs as he answers questions during a press conference this morning at the Catholic Center in Manhattan
Photo by AP

"Part of the business of being a bishop is being a communicator," he said.

Archbishop Dolan answered questions on a wide variety of topics, including the priest sex abuse scandal, same-sex marriage, and the drop in mass attendance among Catholics.

Asked if he would use his high-profile pulpit to be "an agent of change," he said he might have a different style than his predecessor, Cardinal Edward Egan, but not to look for much change in substance.

"The most sacred responsibility a bishop has is to pass on the faith," he said. "I couldn't change that if I wanted to."

A drop in church attendance revealed in a new Gallup poll — that puts Catholics even with Protestants in showing up on Sunday — "bothers me a lot," he said. He linked the drop in attendance to the increasingly rare Sunday dinners shared by families.

"It's a subset of a larger problem." To get people back to the family table and back in the pews, "we have to tap into the whole spirit of what the church is about."

Asked about Gov. David Paterson's intention to revive the same-sex marriage debate in the state, the archbishop said he understands the "enhanced prominence" of his position makes him a frontman on the issue, but not yet.

"You can bet I will be active and present and, I hope, articulate," he said, but first he is "eager to sit down with advisers to see what they've done in the past."

The archbishop made an interesting point about the allure, for many Catholics, to leave their sacramental church for Gospel-oriented, evangelical Christianity. He said many mega-church pastors "find the truths of the faith" and "preach with particular vigor and clarity. Have we done that, have we passed on the truths to the people or have we watered it down? I'm wondering if that's where it's at."

Addressing the priest sexual abuse scandal that has troubled the church for most of this decade, he said the church has done a good job at addressing the situation, but that more needs to be done.

"We have to resist the temptation to say, 'oh good, that's behind us.' It isn't."

His plan for increasing vocations to the priesthood and religious life include showing the joyful face of a consecrated life. He said a religious life "is one of the most freeing, liberating, joyful" lives a person can choose. "When we give stuff away, that's when we're happiest."

He countered a suggestion that there is a morale crisis among priests in the archdiocese and said that when he talks one-on-one with his priests, they "express tremendous satisfaction." And he promised 'I'm going to love them with all my heart."