Archbishop Timothy Dolan

His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, has appointed His Excellency, Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan, Archbishop of Milwaukee, to the Archdiocese of New York.

Speaking of whom, Dolan’s Priests for the Third Millennium is my very favorite modern book on spiritual formation, not just for priests and, for that matter not just for Catholic. Chapter titles are:

  1. Faith
  2. Hope
  3. Love
  4. Humility
  5. Fidelity
  6. Obedience
  7. Courtesy
  8. Integrity
  9. Prudence
  10. Penance
  11. Human Formation
  12. Stewardship of the Spirit
  13. Patience
  14. Simplicity of Life
  15. Joy
  16. The Eucharist in the Life of the Priest
  17. Priestly Identity
  18. Sacrament of Penance
  19. The Liturgy of the Hours
  20. Parish Priesthood
  21. Priestly Zeal
  22. Preaching
  23. Celibacy and Chastity
  24. Devotion to Our Lady

Chapters 1-15 form Part One: Living the Christian Life and chapters 16-24 form Part Two: Living the Priestly Life.


In a useful background article in the St Louis Beacon, Patricia Rice writes:

. . . After a five-year stint in Washington, he returned to St. Louis, as vice-rector and spiritual director at Kenrick- Glennon College. He also taught theology at St. Louis University. For seven years beginning in 1994, he was rector, the top post, at his alma mater, the Pontifical North American College, Rome. He was a mentor, spiritual and academic adviser and chief tour guide at the residential college for American and Canadian seminarians studying at universities across Rome. When in Rome, Dolan also taught church history at the Pontifical Gregorian University and taught ecumenical theology at St. Thomas University.

On a visit to the NAC residential college in November 1997, this reporter observed Dolan multi-tasking one noon in the college’s student refectory. While overseeing the serving of bowls of spaghetti Bolognese to students and visiting priests, he organized two football teams to play the college’s annual Thanksgiving Day’s Spaghetti Bowl.

Just then, a frazzled freshman confused about a theological point in the Summa Theologica that an Italian-speaking professor had made in a class across town peppered Dolan with questions. Dolan cited various points that Thomas Aquinas had made in the text and was full of encouragement while making light of the American freshman’s painful insecurities in Italian. Then, it was back to the bowl game plans, while also giving two visiting U.S. bishops some Rome transportation advice.

A couple NAC students said that Dolan’s main advice to them was not academic but always to be “kind, kind, kind” priests.
. . .

Archbishop Dolan’s statement at yesterday’s press conference, and other news, is at Whispers in the Loggia

Finally, an excerpt from a 2004 lecture by Archbishop Dolan


Bishops also seem to sense that a return to the John Carroll – John England style might be called for. Remember, those two patriarchs knew that it was essential to build the Catholic Church in the United States. Bishops today ask if it is not now necessary to rebuild the Church, through reform and renewal. They wonder if we need to start internally, and concentrate on pastoral issues such as widespread catechetical illiteracy, the collapse of marriage and family life, the restoration of a “culture of life,” genuine liturgical renewal, a return to the sacrament of penance, a national crusade to obey the third commandment, and the promotion of authentic renewal in the lives of our priests and religious (as strongly suggested by the National Review Board’s Report, which we cannot ignore). Bishops today seem to prefer to do this prayerfully, patiently, without the constant glare of lights from the cameras. This relatively new bishop found it moving last June in Denver to be with his 250 brother-bishops on his knees for an hour before the Eucharist, and in line with his episcopal brethren for the sacrament of penance. . . .

[Update: March 5th WSJ article]

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