Dolan Rises—just Not to Pope

By Sophia Hollander And Jennifer Maloney
Wall Street Journal
March 14, 2013

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324077704578358901510746168.html#printMode

Cardinal Timothy Dolan in Rome, center. Watch a video report on the pope-watching crowd at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan at WSJ.com.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan emerged this week from the conclave that elected Pope Francis with what some described as rock-star status in the Roman Catholic church. But now he will need to summon all of his diplomatic and managerial skills to navigate escalating challenges facing the New York archdiocese.

His unexpected emergence as a contender for the papacy "gives him a kind of boost that is quite remarkable," said Terrence Tilley, chairman of the theology department at Fordham University in New York. "He becomes more of an influential person, a kingmaker in clerical and Vatican circles."

A crowd excited by the selection of Pope Francis, including a small group from his home country of Argentina, turned out at Manhattan's most famous church to share in the historic moment.

Although some cardinals sniffed at the prelate's informal style, he received effusive coverage in the Italian press, gave disarming interviews to media outlets such CNN and was mobbed when he appeared in a local parish before the conclave. He said he wants to rebrand Roman Catholicism as a joyful experience that can appeal to a new generation.

But Cardinal Dolan now confronts an array of organizational, political and legal challenges to his role among the leaders of American Catholicism, including questions over how he handled the priest sexual abuse scandal while archbishop of Milwaukee.

"He's not going to be coming home to rest on his laurels," said Terry Golway, director of the Kean University Center for history, politics and policy, in Union, N.J. "The church in New York has some very difficult decisions ahead of it in terms of closing parishes and closing schools and dealing with the ever-changing demographics of New York. That requires hard decision making and prayer and reflection and not just an ebullient personality."

Cardinal Timothy Dolan

Since 2011, the archdiocese has closed 54 Catholic schools as part of a plan to overhaul its educational system, including new taxes on parishes and shifting authority to new regional boards. By contrast, 37 schools were closed between 2000 and 2009 under Cardinal Edward Egan.

"It's painful," said Rev. Thomas Madden, whose school in Haverstraw, N.Y., is targeted for closure in 2014, after celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. But, he said it's "clearly necessary for Catholic education to continue."

Cardinal Dolan also faces new legislative battles, after he failed to defeat a bill that legalized gay marriage in New York state.

Last month, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a proposal to ensure women could receive late-term abortions if their health was in danger or the fetus wasn't viable. Cardinal Dolan opposes the idea because he opposes abortion rights

Before the conclave started, Cardinal Dolan called his lobbyists in New York from Rome multiple times to get status reports, said Dennis Poust, communications director of the New York state Catholic Conference, a group that advocates for Catholic priorities in Albany.

"Even while he's dealing with what's going on over there, he's deeply engaged in helping us win that battle here," he said.

An archdiocese spokesman didn't return requests for comment.

Cardinal Dolan has been dogged by questions over how he handled sexual abuse cases involving priests while leading the archdiocese of Milwaukee between 2002 and 2009.

Church officials confirmed that shortly before he left for Rome to attend the conclave, Cardinal Dolan underwent a three-hour deposition in New York in relation to the Milwaukee archdiocese's two-year-old bankruptcy proceedings.

Attorneys for the creditors in the bankruptcy case, who include more than 575 alleged victims of sexual abuse, have filed a motion for the court to unseal the archbishop's deposition on April 4.

Cardinal Dolan's spokesman with the Archdiocese of New York referred questions about his tenure in Milwaukee to the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

But insights into Cardinal Dolan's actions have already emerged in archdiocese records turned over in the court proceedings: He authorized payments of up to $20,000 to priests who were being defrocked; and moved money into a trust to "shelter" it from victim claims.

Officials in Milwaukee defended his record, citing a mediation program created by then-Archbishop Dolan that offered financial compensation to victims for whom the statute of limitations had expired. He also posted names of priests against whom the archdiocese determined there had been credible allegations of abuse.

"It was really uncharted territory and he was way ahead of the curve," said Jerry Topczewski, the archdiocese's chief of staff, in a reference to the mediation program. He said fewer than 10 priests received payments.

In a statement on the website of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, then-Archbishop Dolan said he hoped the mediation program would lead to what he called "restorative justice."

Some alleged victims, however, said in interviews and in statements submitted to the bankruptcy court that the archbishop's mediation process left them feeling even more traumatized because, they allege, archdiocese officials bullied and lied to them during the process.

Asked about those allegations, Mr. Topczewski said many victims were satisfied with the mediation process, but because of confidentiality rules he said he couldn't identify them.

In an interview in February on CNN, Cardinal Dolan said: "There are certain groups that are never going to be happy with what we've done, OK?"

"I would maintain that today the Catholic Church is a model of what to do," he said. "Outside independent people tell us this. That now the church is doing it right."

Now Cardinal Dolan has the opportunity to use his newly enhanced influence to shape the church's response to a broad range of issues, including a shortage of priests and dwindling attendance.

"Fame is power and with this raised public profile I think that gets him a place at the table," Mr. Golway said

Last year, then-Pope Benedict XVI chose Cardinal Dolan to deliver an address to the College of Cardinals on the church's strategy for stemming the rise of secular trends. The address apparently helped propel him into the range of papal contenders.

He argued that the church must reach out not just to nonbelievers but "to believers and cultures where the salt of the gospel had lost its tang."

Last year, he gave a glimpse of what he might mean by such outreach when he joined an event with comedian and observant Roman Catholic Stephen Colbert at Fordham University.

In front of 3,000 students and faculty members, the two men discussed faith through comedy, recalled the moderator, the Rev. James Martin, author of "Between Heaven and Mirth: Why Joy, Humor, and Laughter are at the Heart of the Spiritual Life."

"You can see people wondering what makes this guy so happy," Father Martin said. "It's a good tool for evangelization; it's also a good tool for vocations. Who would want to join a group of miserable people? Not me."

At one point during the evening, then-Archbishop Dolan leaned over to Father Martin and grabbed his arm.

"This is the new evangelization," he said.