Dolan to Haiti

Whispers in the Loggia reports:

Archbishop Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York and Chairman of the Board of Catholic Relief Services, will attend the funeral Mass for Archbishop Joseph Serge Miot, Archbishop of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, who was killed in last week’s catastrophic earthquake. The funeral will be held on Saturday, January 23, 2010 in the plaza in front of the demolished Cathedral.

Because he is the Chairman of CRS, the Archbishop was asked to attend the funeral by the Papal Ambassador to Haiti, Archbishop Bernardito Auza, and the surviving bishops of Haiti. While in Haiti, the Archbishop will also take the opportunity to offer support to CRS workers already working in Haiti and assess the progress of relief efforts being undertaken by CRS so as to help determine how the Church in the United States can best respond.

Prayers for NY's Archbishop as he heads off to mourn the death of Archbishop Miot and to access the needs of the country. I was struck by the fact that the funeral will be in the plaza in front of the demolished Cathedral. That has to be a tough place to witness to this man's life. The Cathedral's collapse along with the city's speaks to the need for public worship and gathering. This was where everyone came to pray--indeed why should that change now?

A church is never marked by a building itself, but rather by what it is that the church inspires the community to be. In this case, scenes from this funeral should be a remarkable symbol of the faith of the Haitian people. Don't miss it.

Dolan Wears Rusty's Number

Archbishop Dolan showed up at Citi Field signing autographs and earlier visited the West Bronx Community Center in Highbridge working with Catholic Charities and the Rusty Staub Foundation in giving our free meals.

I thought with that relationship between the Archdiocese and Staub's foundation that perhaps Staub, a former Met and a Catholic, might have asked if Dolan could wear his old number. But coincidence of coincidences Dolan is the 10th Archbishop of NY.

I'd like to get this jersey and wear it to the Cathedral!

It's Dolan: We told you so

As previously reported here with many hat tips to Rocco Palmo, there's no time like today to blog as Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the resignation of Edward Cardinal Egan of New York and has appointed Archbishop Timothy Dolan the new head of the huge Archdiocese of New York.

Archbishop Dolan is a fine choice to head up Gotham's Chancery. He's by all means a moderate, a voice of reason, a practical and pastoral man who will bring a much-needed public face and good humor back to St Patrick's Cathedral.

Set your calendars for April 15th, as Archbishop Dolan will be installed at St Patrick's Cathedral then. I always find it funny that they say "installed." It's like we just bought a toaster and we're going to plug it in and make sure it works. The only difference is if we don't like this model we can't exchange it for another one!

I've had limited experience with the new Archbishop. Some members of my wife's family live in Milwaukee, so I've had a chance to be there often. During his time in Milwaukee Archbishop Dolan replaced the fairly liberal Archbishop Rembert Weakland . Weakland had been mired by a scandal in which he paid off a man with Archdiocesan funds who alleged that he had an affair with him. So Archbishop Dolan had quite a few fences to mend and he did so fairly quickly and he'd be the first to say, with the help of a great lay staff.

"He appreciates the laity," say sources in Milwaukee. "He knows he needs good lay people with a good sense for business around him so that he can administrate the diocese well."

I would also say that the new Archbishop Dolan will quickly become a media favorite. He's great with a one-liner and friendly and answers questions thoughtfully.

Prayers today for both the new Archbishop Dolan and for Cardinal Egan who will be moving on after cleaning up quite a financial mess in the NY Archdiocese.