A day after elevating 22 archbishops to cardinal—including the New York Archdiocese's Timothy Dolan—Pope Benedict led mass at St. Peter's Basilica today. And, at least according to the AP's report, the pontiff is looking and sounding rough: "Benedict, who turns 85 in April, read a long homily in a hoarse voice and looked tired on the third straight day of speeches, rituals and appearances for the new cardinals. Benedict told the new members of the College of Cardinals their main task is to 'bear witness to the joy of Christ's love.'" more ›

Archbishop Timothy Dolan is in Rome (and the Vatican City) for his elevation to Cardinal. So he's trying to reassure Catholics abroad that Big Apple is not that terrible: "New York seems to have an innate interest and respect for religion and I'm going to bring that up because I don't like that caricature that New York is some neo-Sodom and Gomorrah." more ›

Archbishop Timothy Dolan may be in Rome, awaiting elevation to Cardinal, but he's still thinking about making sure religious organizations' insurance plans aren't compelled to give women free birth control. He told the Post, "We will now seek to remedy the situation through legislation if we have to at this point." more ›

Now that the economy is like totally fixed, it's back to the culture war! Yesterday, Archbishop Timothy Dolan, who leads the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said he felt betrayed by President Obama's decision to require religious organizations to offer woman birth control without charging them through their insurance. Now the White House is prepared to announce some sort of "accommodation." more ›

The federal government is standing firm in requiring insurance to cover birth control, but is giving "religious-based hospitals, universities, charities, and other organizations whose primary purpose is not religious, an additional year to come into compliance with the contraceptive requirement." But soon-to-be-Cardinal Archbishop Timothy Dolan said in a furious statement: "In effect, the president is saying we have a year to figure out how to violate our consciences." more ›

Archbishop Dolan has no made no secret of the fact that he does not approve of marriage equality—but now, as JoeMyGod points out, he appears to just be scaremongering on the topic. In a long interview with Salt Lake City's Deseret News, Dolan claims that priests across New York are being threatened with lawsuits for not allowing gay marriages—even though the church's right to do so was one of the sticking points that almost held up marriage equality in New York in the first place. more ›

Blogging leader of the Catholic Church in New York City, Archbishop Timothy Dolan, posted a piece about the state's passage of marriage equality, "We have been bloodied, and bruised, and, yes, for the moment, we have been defeated. But, we’re used to that. So was the Founder of our Church." more ›

While Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio lashed out against the passage of the marriage equality act, other vocal opponents declined to allow the subject of civil rights and equal protection under the law to bleed into their sermons. Archbishop Timothy Dolan was among them, as his Homily on Sunday had no mention of the historic law. Speaking to reporters after the service, Dolan said, "I sort of needed a good dose of the Lord's grace and mercy because I've been down a little lately as you can imagine." Know what would have cured that summertime blues? The scene last Friday night in front of the Stonewall! It was impossible to be sad there. more ›

Since he first was introduced as the new Archbishop of NY in 2009, Timothy Dolan has been direct about his negative feelings toward the idea of gay marriage. But Dolan thinks that you still aren't getting him, so like all modern Renaissance men, he took to his blog by candlelight and furiously scribed a passionate screed on the history of marriage, why the Catholic Church isn't anti-gay, and the Orwellian nature of the pro-gay marriage lobby. There's no way anyone could possibly be offended by any of this, right? Here's juicy excerpt: more ›

At midnight, Archbishop Timothy Dolan held Midnight Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral, drawing an audience of hundreds, including Mayor Bloomberg, Governor-elect Andrew Cuomo and Police Commission Ray Kelly. Archbishop Dolan said, “A blessed Christmas to everyone. We are all home for Christmas here at St. Patrick’s cathedral. This holds true for silent night," and "We desperately try to fill up what's missing, while the root of every anguish is that we ignore the only one who can really fill that void: God." more ›

Governor Paterson discussed the Park 51 mosque and community center project on the radio today. Paterson, who was has previously offered to find a location other than 45-47 Park Place (two blocks from Ground Zero), told John Gambling on WOR that a solution that "would rid ourselves of Islamophobia" was essential: "There are some bigots and some racists who are alive in this discussion, however when nearly 70% of the population oppose it, you’ve got a lot of people of good will and all ethnicities you’re going to have to persuade." more ›

Yes, it's time for items related to the proposed mosque and community center two blocks from the World Trade Center and the rhetoric about why the Park 51 project should or shouldn't go forward. Last week, the Daily Show pointed out that speculating about Fox News' speculation about possible terrorist funding for the mosque was akin to speculating about terrorist funding for Fox News parent company News Corp., since News Corp.'s second biggest investor is Saudi prince Al-Waleed bin Talal. Then yesterday, Fox News' Dan Senor basically said that Al-Waleed funds Park 51's Imam Feisel Abdul Rauf and radical madrassas....but neglected to mention Al-Waleed by name or his News Corp. connection. Which gave Jon Stewart a lot of fodder: more ›

A few days after yet another Mexican was beaten by a group of teenagers on Staten Island, Archbishop Timothy Dolan delivered a sermon in an attempt to calm and soothe the community. He said in a sermon delivered in Spanish, "We will reclaim our streets. God lives in these streets. Fear, violence and hate do not live here." more ›

Archbishop Timothy Dolan is on the information superhighway—the leader of the New York Archdiocese has a blog called The Gospel in the Digital Age, where he tackles things like sexual abuse in the Catholic Church (today's entry is an op-ed he submitted to the NY Times, which declined it) and baseball—"It’s been hard for this bishop to be against angels, but fortunately that crisis of conscience has passed with the Yankees 5-2 victory last night over the Los Angeles Angels, giving them their 40th American League pennant and sending the Bronx Bombers back to the World Series." more ›

Last night was the annual Alfred E. Smith dinner, which attracts the powerful (last year, both Obama and McCain were there), and Archbishop Timothy Dolan made his first appearance poking fun at his mother, who was not in NYC but at home, "The real reason my mom is not here is she stayed at the Waldorf Astoria for the installation six months ago. This is a little embarrassing. The hotel won't let her back until she returns all the towels." more ›

During the elaborate installation ceremonies yesterday, Archbishop Timothy Dolan said to the thousands gathered at St. Patrick's Cathedral, "This cathedral has been such a warm, embracing, spiritual hall for so many millions. Thank you. Thank you all for embracing me." Dolan, replacing retiring Edward Cardinal Egan, is now the leader of the New York Archdiocese, which has 2.5 million in the NY area. more ›

Archbishop Timothy Dolan marked his beginning as the new leader of the New York Archdiocese—and about 2.5 million Roman Catholics in the area—with the ritual of knocking on the doors of St. Patrick's Cathedral. The Post described the scene, "Using a blue hammer, Dolan pounded on the bronze doors six times, asking to be accepted as New York's new archbishop. Then he paused and knocked another three times just to be sure he was heard. A roar of laughter erupted in the church. The doors swung open and the 59-year-old Dolan walked in to an explosion of applause." more ›

Around 6 p.m., if you see a man of the cloth (followed by the press) knocking on the doors of St. Patrick's Cathedral, don't be alarmed—it'll just be the new leader of the New York Archdiocese. Archbishop Timothy Dolan will be symbolically asking New York's Roman Catholic community to accept him. more ›

Edward Cardinal Egan told worshippers at St. Patrick's Cathedral yesterday, "We are here for a passing moment of eternity." The 77-year-old was discussing the world's problems during his final Easter Sunday mass as head of the New York Archdiocese, "Life can appear unfair and pointless, but Easter gives meaning to the reality of life." more ›

The local media continues its coverage of incoming Archbishop Timothy Dolan. The NY Post gave him some Big Apple-themed gifts, including "a Yankees cap and mug, an FDNY T-shirt and a subway map," which Dolan appreciated, noting, "I'm going to be a tourist for one year." more ›

Yesterday, the new head of the New York Archdiocese met parishioners as well as the press. Archbishop Timothy Dolan, appointed by Pope Benedict XVI to succeed Cardinal Edward Egan, is eager to get to know his new town, "I'm going to look forward to being part of everything in New York, from the New York Yankees to the museums to the soup kitchens to the orphanages to the hospitals." more ›

Last night, word leaked from the Vatican that Pope Benedict XVI would appoint Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan, of Milwaukee, to lead the Archdiocese of New York. The Archdiocese's current head, Cardinal Edward Egan, handed in his resignation letter in 2007 when he turned 75, in keeping with Vatican Law. more ›