Timothy Dolan, Archbishop Of New York, Becomes A Cardinal

Archbishop Timothy Dolan, the head of the 2.6-million member Archdiocese of New York, was elevated to the prestigious College of Cardinals in an elaborate ceremony at the Vatican on Saturday.

Elevated to the position along with 21 other new cardinals, including the Archbishop Edwin O'Brien of Baltimore, 62-year-old Dolan's new position means that he is among an exclusive group of 214 of Pope Benedict XVI's close advisers.

The College of Cardinals is best known for being the group that picks the new pope. With the new appointments, there are 125 cardinals eligible to vote for a new pope and 214 total cardinals. Cardinals who are over 80 years old are not allowed to vote.

Dolan has been in Rome this week for a flurry of Masses and media appearances leading up to Saturday's elevation.

Dolan, ordained as a parish priest in St. Louis in 1976, held several academic positions at Catholic universities before becoming the auxiliary bishop of St. Louis in 2001. A little over a year later, he was appointed the Archbishop of Milwaukee. In 2009, he became the archbishop of New York and was elected to lead the bishops' conference in 2010. As head of New York's church, he oversees Catholic life in Manhattan, the Bronx, Staten Island and many of the city's suburbs.

Dolan's elevation will give New York two living cardinals who can vote for a new pope, a rarity in the Catholic church. The other is Cardinal Edward Egan, the former archbishop of New York, who was elevated in February of 2001. Egan turns 80 in April. The move by the pope to promote Dolan while his predecessor remains of voting age is a break with tradition, which church observers say shows how much the pope favors New York's Catholic leader.

Photos of Cardinal Dolan's Ceremony at the Vatican

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Comments

[Leonardo de la Paor]

04:09 PM on 05/15/2012

ALL clergy are perverts!

If its not buggering young children, its robbing from old people, using the garbage that has terrorized ignorant people down through the centuries.

From the Witch doctor in Darkest Africa to the Pope in the Vatican, they are kindred spirits -DEMONIC SPIRITS!

If there is a Hell, then these parasites will populate it!

[JBaker]

11:41 PM on 03/05/2012

As a New Yorker I have seen Dolan on TV during the past couple of years giving interviews. The man has no personality or intellect. He appears quite stupid, frankly, and has nothing charming or engaging about him in the least.

Also, Catholics by-and-large don't care who gets what promotion in the church. They watch popes and cardinals come and go, come and go...

[grannysm]

02:24 PM on 03/06/2012

What he looks like and whether he is charming or stupid, etc., does not matter. What does is the way he and his fellow Catholic "leaders" ignored and/or enabled decades of sexual abuse and perversion by Catholic clergy. And now how they leap to the condemnation of our duly elected President when he tries to protect women. Nice way to cloud the issue of bankruptcies across the country as dioceses pay fines and penalties for these sex crimes,

[virpilosus]

02:42 AM on 03/01/2012

Personally, I could care less about the clerical fashion show. What really worries me is the weight of authority people like Dolan carry in New York for regressive attitude and actions in the areas of politics, public and women's health, and civic life.

[The MILLA Project]

02:05 PM on 02/29/2012

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[rbr7292414]

03:13 PM on 02/25/2012

Why must cardinals and bishops wrap themselves with the trappings of royalty, those costly robes and gold crosses and rings? Jesus of Nazarath wore a tunic and sandles.

[lobstur]

04:02 AM on 02/23/2012

No humbleness here. Nothing Christ-like to be seen. Crowds of men in beautiful robes, hats, being praised and 'elevated.'

I sound crazy, call me so, but: I see the Anti-Christ in Catholicism.

[Clevelandinwi]

10:59 PM on 02/22/2012

How can someone duck all that guilt just by being 'cute'?

[Robert Frano]

04:03 PM on 02/22/2012

Re: "Cardinals who are over 80 years old are not allowed to vote..."
What age do Catholic, (...& other monotheist-clerics) have to achieve, before they stop groping children?

What age do they need to reach before they >>instinctively

[hows my driving]

08:55 AM on 02/21/2012

Only took a cursory look at the article title, but I'm quite surprised to read
"Timothy Dolan, Archbishop Of New York, Becomes A Cardinal".

I had no idea St-Louis felt he still had the power or batting average. I figured he go to an AL team to DH but what do I know.

[CrankyGal]

11:48 AM on 02/22/2012

LOL, that was great!

[Mrs Robinsons]

05:47 PM on 02/20/2012

When God sent his son..
to the world
he so loved...

his son did not endorse
heirarchy in religion.

I have much weight on my back
which does not wish me to say this...
but truthfully...if I allow myself to speak as I feel..
it needs to be said.

[Will Storm]

06:31 PM on 02/21/2012

it is not by hierarchy that some are closer to Truth, but by closeness to truth that one's peers elevate them to an office better suited for spreading the Word of God.

[fran93420]

12:12 AM on 02/23/2012

"thou art Peter, and upon this rock I shall build my church".."and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven"....".and the gates of hell shall not prevai against it (the Church)" (paraphrased...my bible not handy) Also, read Acts, the beginning of the Catholic Church and the addition of a heirachy to minister to the Christians...

[markk54]

05:32 PM on 02/20/2012

Timothy Dolan has both personally helped many fellow humans, and as a leader raised funds and coordinated efforts that have done a tremenous amounts of good for the poor,the hungry and the sick. I wish him well on the achievement of becoming a Cardinal, and really don't see the harm in the pomp and circumstance - If anyone has worn a graduation gown you have experienced this first hand.
How much better to celebrate something like this than the latest exploits of a reality star or the insane comp of a CEO. And yes the Church is not perfect, its made of humans - I'm suprised at the hatred here. Lets just a fellow human being well on his accomplishment and move on.

[Boomerwoman]

09:31 PM on 02/20/2012

Sorry about the hate. It's hard for people who see hypocrisy to wish priests, archbishops, and cardinals anything but "may it happen right back atcha." The Catholic church has completely lost it's moral authority.

[Will Storm]

06:32 PM on 02/21/2012

How did the Church lose its moral authority?

[One more Thing]

07:20 AM on 02/21/2012

You speak of a church who created Rick Santorum and support others just like him in our Congress. Citizens of the U.S. have a vested interest in expressing their views on him and will do so as long as we have the Freedom from Religion to do so.

[Will Storm]

06:32 PM on 02/21/2012

That's fine...

[midwestblues]

02:28 PM on 02/20/2012

Where did the costumes comes from? Did Jesus wear red robes and hats? Did the early disciples? Did any of his followers? What's the origin--obviously NOT from true Christianity.

[user35210]

05:32 PM on 02/20/2012

they wore coat and ties

[Will Storm]

06:34 PM on 02/21/2012

Somethings are non-essential to an office. Clothing is one of them and insofar as that is true, the shape, color, etc. of clothing is neutral. It is simply in the name of tradition. It does not speak to whether one's roots are truly Christian or not.

[hoperequired]

01:36 PM on 02/20/2012

It's pretty sad that Obama is the first president in 50 years that hasn't had a good connection with the Holy See, but yet he says he's a Christian. Pretty odd.

[gilbertmichel]

02:16 PM on 02/20/2012

It's pretty reassuring that Obama is the first president in 50 years that hasn't not kissed the B....of scandal prone Vatican. It does not matter if the president is a Christian or not since the Constitution demands the SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE. We are going to protect our democratic constitution from the assaults of religious madness. Let's start by taxing the church.

[JonW]

08:33 PM on 02/20/2012

Millions of Americans dont think they haveor need a close connrction with the Holy See but regard themselves as Christians. you see it started with a German chap named Luther like 7 centuries ago and went from there. Oh and by the way the vast majority dont think that the US President takes marching orders from the Rome. We are a secular country not a theocracy!!!

[Will Storm]

06:36 PM on 02/21/2012

Luther is has doubted his own theological ideologies and on separate occasions been proven wrong.
I think hoperequired is simply pointing out that Christians are usually on the same page as the Vatican.

[nico88]

08:49 AM on 02/20/2012

Living in St. Louis, we got the full treatment of Dolan's ascendancy to royalty in the Catholic Church. I'm not making that up, it was reported that way. Then comes the story that Dolan has bigger plans on the horizon. He doesn't want to be Pope, he wants to be a Saint. Better get working on the miracles. I have several in mind. It would be a miracle if he wasn't caught up in a sexual scandal. Cardinal Rigali knows what I'm talking about. Let's see what else. Everytime he says mass, he turns wine and bread into the blood and body of Christ. That's a miracle. Course that means every priest, even the most lowly, have performed that miracle. Dolan, as old men Princes of the Church, is young enough to work on his miracle. I'm sure he'll come up with something before you know it.

[One more Thing]

07:22 AM on 02/21/2012

Like lose 50 pounds!

[Will Storm]

06:37 PM on 02/21/2012

why are you so upset with him?

[New York Woman]

12:04 AM on 02/20/2012

Of course Dolan is happy. He's just been elevated to being an even bigger cheese among the largest group of protected paedophiles and women haters in the world.

[One more Thing]

08:10 AM on 02/20/2012

That's exactly why New Yorkers should insist Dolan stop calling himself "New York's Cardinal to be" and instead that he label himself as "Cardinal to be of the Catholics of New York archdiocese."

His insistence on using the false title is an insult to many non-cathloics and catholic women.

Fanned.