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A week with this generation's Fulton Sheen
by John L Allen Jr on Dec. 11, 2009
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Printer-friendly versionSend to friendPDF versionI once had a church history professor who loved counter-factual thought exercises. A hypothetical question he asked us to ponder was the following: What if Fulton Sheen had been named Archbishop of New York?
Sheen, of course, was the 1950s-era TV bishop who, at the height of his fame, commanded an audience estimated at 30 million. In 1952, his show “Life is Worth Living” beat Lucille Ball and Edward R. Murrow for an Emmy award. The point of the question was to consider what the results might have been if the American church’s most gifted natural communicator -- in effect, the Catholic Billy Graham -- had also been given the country’s most important ecclesiastical post.
Would that have changed the culture of the church? Would it have raised the bar for the American hierarchy, putting a greater premium on evangelization, as opposed to the bricks-and-mortar emphasis of the 1950s? Or would it have backfired, since administrative skills sometimes aren’t in the wheelhouse of charismatic personalities?
We’ll never know, because Sheen’s only opportunity to run a diocese came in the late 1960s in Rochester, New York, and by all accounts it wasn’t a happy experience. (By that stage, Sheen had turned sour, disillusioned with some currents in Catholicism after the Second Vatican Council.) But these days we have an intriguing parallel to track, because if there is a Fulton Sheen of this generation -- meaning an American bishop with the same capacity to engage a national audience, to make Catholicism seem attractive to a secular world -- it’s probably Timothy Dolan, who also just happens to be the new Archbishop of New York.
I’m spending this week in New York watching Dolan in action, as part of the research for a future book.
Sheen’s success a half-century ago came at a critical moment, when American Catholicism was struggling to emerge from the ghetto. Similarly, Dolan’s rise to prominence comes at a moment when the Catholic church is again struggling with its public image, this time because of factors such as the sex abuse crisis and divisive forays into politics.
Whether Dolan has any new vision to contribute to those challenges remains to be seen, but perhaps the most immediate thing that strikes the casual observer is this: He doesn’t seem to be mad at anybody. Dolan just radiates hope, and that alone is sometimes enough to move mountains.
Comparisons between Sheen and Dolan are especially apt this week, since the 30th anniversary of Sheen’s death fell on Wednesday. The occasion was marked by Dolan with a special Mass in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and in his homily he delivered a sound-bite of which Sheen could be proud: “He wanted to get to Heaven, and he wanted bring the whole world with him,” Dolan said of Sheen. (A sainthood cause for Sheen was launched in 2002 by the diocese of Peoria, Illinois, where he was born, and is awaiting judgment in Rome.)
Following Dolan around, it’s easy to see glimmers of Sheen’s charisma. Stories of Dolan’s wit have already become the stuff of legend, so here’s a couple to add to the collection.
On Wednesday night, Dolan mentioned that Sheen is buried in the crypt beneath St. Patrick’s Cathedral, along with the former archbishops of New York. Dolan added that a slot is reserved for retired Cardinal Edward Egan of New York, and -- in a play on his own rather roly-poly physique -- “a slot and a half for me.”
Another: Dolan told a fundraising reception for Catholic schools a joke about a nun who went to a baseball game. Three Protestants were sitting behind her, and decided to have some fun. One said, “I was thinking about going to Ireland for vacation, but there are too many Catholics there.” Another said, “I was considering Italy, but there are too many Catholics.” Another said, “I was going to go to Mexico, but there are too many Catholics.” Whereupon the nun spun around and said, “Why don’t the three of you go straight to hell? I hear there are no Catholics there.”
Dolan is so relentlessly upbeat, in fact, that one risk is to reduce him to nothing but a series of one-liners and slapped backs. That was the thrust of a recent profile in New York magazine, which labeled Dolan the “Archbishop of Charm” -- suggesting, perhaps, that beneath Dolan’s bonhomie, there’s not much ‘there’ there.
It doesn’t help that Dolan has a self-deprecating sense of humor, deliberately playing off such impressions. I watched him drop in on a meeting of lay movements, in which he didn’t make many statements but asked a lot of probing questions. When I commented on it later, he said: “I figure I can get away with acting dumb for about the first year ... until they figure out that I ain’t acting.”
Later that evening, I sat with Dolan in his study as he chatted with retired Cardinals Ted McCarrick of Washington and William Keeler of Baltimore, who had come down to New York to celebrate the Sheen anniversary. At one stage they were talking about all the receptions, dinners and fundraisers they all have to attend, and Dolan said he’d picked up a valuable piece of advice: When you show up at an event, never check your coat or valet park your car, because then you’re dependent on someone else for your exit. He turned to me and said: “I don’t know any theology, but I know all about this stuff.”
Yet anyone who has spent much time in Dolan’s company quickly realizes that beneath his wit, the guy is nobody’s fool. In fact, few leading Catholics of any sort -- let alone bishops -- have such an appetite for Catholic teaching, tradition, and lore.
For example, on Wednesday morning I watched Dolan tape his regular weekly radio program, in this case devoted to Sheen. He was joined by a panel of experts, and off the top of his head Dolan was able to recite obscure facts about Sheen’s biography that stumped everyone else in the room. (Dolan has a Ph.D. in church history from the Catholic University of America, where he studied under Fr. John Tracy Ellis, long considered the dean of church historians in the United States.)
At one point Dolan said of Sheen, “He was sometimes styled as a shallow popularizer, but deep down he had a towering intellect.” It was hard not to suspect that at some level, Dolan may also have been thinking about himself.
To what extent Dolan’s intellectual chops, and his keen love of the church, will translate into an effective tenure as the “American pope” is anyone’s guess, but for right now, most New Yorkers I’ve met don’t seem all that interested. After nine years under Cardinal Edward Egan, who often came across as embattled and isolated, most just seem thrilled to have an archbishop who seems like a hit.
At one point I trailed Dolan to a reception to thank donors who had “adopted” a Catholic school, and bumped into a school official who told a vintage Dolan story. The official had been present when the new archbishop made his first visit to an inner-city school in the Bronx, he said, and watched him greet every person in the place. (This, by the way, is a defining Dolan touch. When he walks into a room, he says hello to everybody, including the cops working security, the waiters handing out drinks, the little kid waiting in a corner ... everybody.)
On that first school visit, the official said, a janitor found himself locked in a bear-hug with the archbishop. Dolan looked him in the eye, beamed, and said, “You have a beautiful building here. You obviously take great care of it.” The official said the janitor walked on water for a week afterwards.
Having an Archbishop of New York with such a popular touch may not solve all the church’s problems, but, as the saying goes, it beats a kick in the head. In an era when many Catholic prelates can come across as a bit “charm-challenged,” perhaps being the “Archbishop of Charm” is actually a pretty good foundation upon which to build.
In any event, what we might call the “Tim Dolan Show” promises to be fun to watch.
John Allen is NCR senior correspondent. His e-mail address is jallen@ncronline.org.
The new Sheen. I'd go with
The new Sheen.
I'd go with Father Robert Barron.
Father Barron is excellent!
Father Barron is excellent!
I never experienced
I never experienced Archbishop Dolan, while he was in Milwaukee, as anything other than jolly and a glad-hander & back-slapper...he didn't publicly exhibit any depth of spirituality...lots of laughter, jokes, smiles...I somehow think we Catholics need to demand more than smiley faces of our bishops.
I was in the seminary in St.
I was in the seminary in St. Louis while Archbishop (then-Monsignor) Dolan was Vice Rector and a part-time professor at St. Louis University. I also experienced him as jolly and a "glad-hander". He also had a deep and abiding faith and a tremendous intellect. He was a fantastic professor (I had him for a class in the history of the Church in the US).
During that time, there was much dissent and disunity in the seminary. Msgr. Dolan was very active in helping heal wounds caused by that dissent. I will never forget a friend of mine who was publicly humiliated by one of the priests on staff (of course, the priest in question was a leftist, my friend, far more conservative) during a seminary student forum. This friend of mine was devastated and nearly inconsolable and was within a hair's breath of leaving, when Msgr. Dolan (who was not even at the forum) came to him, talked with him, and offered him consolation and support. My friend is now a priest of the Archdiocese and I have never forgotten the kindness of Msgr. Dolan.
Monsignor's homilies effectively mixed serious theological reflection with folksy humor. His classes were equally mixed and equally effective. The great gifts of Archbishop Dolan is his affability and his jollity and kindness, mixed with a deep faith and keen intellect. He is not one who feels the need to publicly show off his intellect, but rather one who recognizes that what people most need is a man of faith who is also a kind and gentle, funny and genuine.
He reminds me most of St. Philip Neri, a priest who hid a powerful intellect behind a mask of humor and comedy--humor designed to touch people and to draw them to the Lord, and an intellect that informed them once they were there. St. Philip was a man who took St. Paul seriously when Paul told us to "rejoice in the Lord always!" Archbishop Dolan is man that Paul would be proud of.
"hair's breath"? Shouldn't it
"hair's breath"?
Shouldn't it be hair's breadth?
Or hare's breath?
so why did you leave? A
so
why did you leave?
A greater belief in Milton Friedman than in Catholic doctrine?
A handshake and a smile would
A handshake and a smile would be a good place to start.
H.G. Bishop TIMOTHY MacLam
Director
Pilgrim Prayer & Healing Ministries
that has also been my
that has also been my experience. The church needs some men of great sanctity who are humble...........ronald rolheiser would be good.
I would like to
I would like to nominate/recommend New Mexico's Father Richard Rohr OFM, founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as our Southwestern 'answer' to Fulton J. Sheen.
I totally agree with
I totally agree with recommending Fr. Richard! His talks and books have helped carry me through the un-Christlike attitude of the hierarchy in our archdiocese (Denver.)
If one wants to speculate
If one wants to speculate look past what would have been different if Bishop Sheen had been made Bishop of the New York Archdiocese to what would the Church in America look like had the heirarchy been mostly of Italian ancestry rather than Irish! It could have happened!
Kevin
Without any doubt the Fulton
Without any doubt the Fulton Sheen of this generation, as great and honest communicator of our Faith, is the Reverend Father John Dear SJ, who may be read regularly and generously upon these pages, and whose several edifying works are essential reading for any Roman Catholic.
I thought it was McBrien. Oh
I thought it was McBrien. Oh dear, you have to make a decision.
I have a wonderful Tim Dolan
I have a wonderful Tim Dolan story of my own - I was in Rome this summer when a friend from another country received the pallium. The last night there, we were eating al fresco in a trattoria when this bear of a man wearing a bright yellow polo shirt came up and starting chatting with some of the people at the table, who obviously knew and liked him. Some of the other people introduced themselves, and then I introduced myself, adding (because I did not recognize him), "And you are..?" and he bellowed back with a big smile, "Tim Dolan! Great to meet you!" (And then he picked up the tab for the women religious at the table, who knew him.)
It was a marvelously refreshing moment...
Wait a minute. I guess I have
Wait a minute. I guess I have the wrong person. I've read about a man named Dolan who took such cheap shots at the New York times he looked like a press agent for Bill Donohue. I've read about a man who went out of his way to oppose gay marriage in New York and reached all the way to Maine where gay marriage was none of his business. I've read about a man
who would scuttle a health bill for all Americans to get his way on the oppressive Stupak amendment. I guess there's two Archbishop Dolans--the glad hander who gives bear hugs but the other one a hard-liner on social issues. And now an intellectual? Next thing we know he'll be giving learned discourses on why we must return to the old Father Lasance Missal.
But Fulton Sheen would have
But Fulton Sheen would have opposed gay 'marriage', and supported the Stupak amendment (as well as opposing abortion in all cases). Dolan may not be an intellectual, but he is right on these issues.
What a blessed relief!
What a blessed relief!
You obviously were not around
You obviously were not around when Fulton Sheen lived. There's no comparison and to try and make one is an insult to the late Bishop's name.
Dolan's "charm" is totally
Dolan's "charm" is totally lost on me and my fellow gay and lesbian Catholics. It's more of the same for us. Except for the smiley face he's every bit as rigid and mean to us as Egan was. So we wait in hope and pray for them both, secure in the sure knowledge that God loves us as we are and wants us fully included in the Church AS WE ARE, AS GOD MADE US.
Yes, can't you just see the
Yes, can't you just see the twinkle in Tim Dolan's charming eyes as he signs that ever-so-charming Manhattan Declaration, with its pretend chest-beating about the failure of the religious right to deal with heterosexual moral lapses, but its ugly language about gay folks, and its ugly intent to keep bashing gay folks?
Charm galore. The whole document and all those who signed it just ooze charm, don't they, from Chuck Colson to Maggie Gallagher to Scott Lively, who heads a hate group, and Peter Akinola, who told a NY Times reporter once that when he shook a gay man's hand and then realized the man was gay, he jumped away as if a snake had bitten him.
But that was the NY Times saying that, wasn't it? And they have a well-known, uncharming anti-Catholic agenda, don't they?
Charm, charm, charm: it's absolutely the very first word that pops into my head when I think of the signers of the Manhattan Declaration and their anti-gay politics--and of Tim Dolan, whose name is right there before God and everybody, on the document.
And I'm quite sure his eyes twinkled as he signed.
So when he abandons the faith
So when he abandons the faith of Jesus Christ, then you will be his friends. Hmm what will he choose--his soul or friends with your group hmmmm?
As a gay Catholic, I have to
As a gay Catholic, I have to disagree. Regardless of the question of "charm," Archbishop Dolan is courageous in preaching the Gospel in season and out of season, including issues of gay marriage, etc. Being gay, one could assume I would want the Gospel tailored to my likings, but the God preached by such a Gospel would be a graven image of my own imagining. I am a human being first and formost, and what I need is the Truth, and Archbishop Dolan is willing to show forth the Truth. The Church accepts me. The Church accepts my orientation. The Church may not accept homosexual acts, but if it did, it would cease to be the Church that brings us Truth, and I would look elsewhere for the Gospel message. God bless Archbishop Dolan.
May God bless and guide you
May God bless and guide you always. Your response touched me and reflects honesty and humility. Yes, we are all sinners. Yet God loves us. He only abhors our wrong actions, sexually or otherwise. We cannot be WRONG and STRONG. Keep the faith and carry on trusting that He, Who knows all things looks at our heart. He, Who knows all things cannot and must not be put dragged down to our level of human emotions and judgment. May you be blessed for daring to stand up for the Truth.
Mercedes
Thank you, actually. I'm the
Thank you, actually. I'm the poster you commented on. I'm a proud and undisciplined person (the honesty and humility you ascribe to me are exceptions rather than the rule), and I am undergoing temptation against chastity at the moment, but your affirmation actually does encourage me. Thanks be to God for you, and I'll offer my present trials for you.
To the prior commentator
To the prior commentator whose comment starts with "As a Gay Catholic..." --
Your honesty is exactly what we need more of within our Church --
Beyond Gay or Heterosexual identities -- As a fellow sinner and family member in Christ's Church -- I too need the "Church" to be the "Church" and call me to what is truly most noble about my spiritual and transcendent end in Christ.
Kudos to your comment
"God loves us as we are and
"God loves us as we are and wants us fully included in the Church AS WE ARE, AS GOD MADE US." AMEN to that! God is on your side. And remember: the Dolans of this world are fighting a losing battle.
Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan
Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan has an invaluable opportunity in his relatively new position in the Archdiocese of New York to make a difference, to take pro-active steps to restore some of the church’s lost credibility and tarnished integrity by doing the morally right thing.
Dolan could begin by taking three rather painless steps but ones guaranteed to score high on the public relations meter.
1. publicly listing all known, credibly accused or convicted sexually abusive priests and religious serving in the Archdiocese of New York,
2. recognizing the work of faithful, committed catholics belonging to legitimately formed groups like Voice of the Faithful,
3. supporting child abuse legislation proposed in New York like that passed in Delaware in 2007 for the protection of all children and direct the state’s Catholic Conference to do the same.
Sending postcards to legislators encouraging support for the Markey-Duane bill or a similar bill would be a great example of pro-active support. Support of such legislation would show the church really intends to be as accountable and transparent as it promised in 2002.
Such actions by the New York's archbishop would go far in showing that it is possible that a bishop’s words and actions can be in agreement and counteract the misinformation being circulated.
Everyone needs to be held accountable both for their criminal acts against children and their mortal sins.
Sister Maureen Paul Turlish
Victims’ Advocate
New Castle, Delaware
___________________
Sister Maureen Paul Turlish is a member of the Delaware non-denominational coalition, Child Victims Voice, She also spoke before the Senate and House Judiciary Committees in support of the 2007 Delaware Child Victims Law.
She can be reached at: maureenpaulturlish@yahoo.com
Right on, Sister! The days of
Right on, Sister! The days of the pompous bear-hugging prelate should be long over. What is needed is a sincerely Christ-like presence which embraces all people and lacks the self-important, judgemental and rigid dictums of people like Fulton Sheen and Timothy Dolan.
and who provides just and
and who provides just and living wages and the right to unionize according to our latest social encyclical, with comprehensive health care, etc., with gender equity.
Since you're talking about
Since you're talking about mortal sin, just wondering, what about the mortal sins of adolescents 15+ who gladly consented to the priestly advances? And how about the ones who came on to the priests? In our society adsolescent boys who are 15+ are tried as adults when they commit acts of violence. But if they have sex with a priest then they are sweet innocents! Give me a break!
There is a whole other side to the abuse crisis which you so called victim's advocates refuse to see or admit.
For people who don't know, Markey-Duane is a bill to drop the statute of limitations for a year so alleged victims can sue the Catholic Church. This is being advocated by a nun. No wonder they are under investigation!
paulte, for you to say that
paulte, for you to say that adolescents "gladly consented to the priestly advances" is either from
a) some deluded whack job of a pervert pedophile priest;
b) an attorney for the defense of pedophile priests;
c) from a cardinal or bishop in defense of keeping sexual molestation of children by priest a secret;
d) from your own fantasy life that imagines children "gladly consented" to their rape.
Please name your source.
Also, if children 15 years old are being tried as "adults" there is something wrong with that type of violent and unmerciful judgment from adults who decide adolescents should be tried or judged as an "adult" when they obviously are not an adult yet.
Also, according to you, if a nun advocates anything that is for real justice and ending sexual abuse by priests, all the nuns should be investigated. Gee, that makes a lot of sense. We should just make it easier for priests to get away with sexually molesting children and not ever bring them to justice or hold those responsible accountable. According to your thinking we should pick on nuns and blame them for law suits that were committed by pedophile priest. Why don't you just come out and say it, paulte, that you favor the Church's systemic ability to harbor pervert pedophile priest?
My source is that I read the
My source is that I read the press. I have unfailingly found that 15+ males who commit violent crimes are tried as adults. This is the way our society works. You have your head in the sand. This is not 1947 when 15+ boys were pretty innocent compared to today's crop. I have also been a teacher and have had 15+ boys come onto me. I was pretty young myself and I was actually sexually harrassed by adolescent boys in a Catholic high school. Welcome to the modern world, my dear!
Sister you failed to state
Sister you failed to state what good would the Markey bill have done to protect anyone. If your agenda is to allow those being served by Catholic Charities to die on their own, then I guess you have a point about supporting the bill. Perhaps the good archbishop is just following the example of the women religious orders and keeping everything a secret?
Great article as usual. From
Great article as usual. From what I've seen on TV and talking with parishioners in the NY diocese, I think John Allen portrays Archbishop Dolan accurately.
..................thanks much.
I suggest John allen also do
I suggest John allen also do some research in Milwaukee. Are there any questions allowed about women working prefessionally in parishes?
I have an hard time picturing
I have an hard time picturing Dolan as the next Sheen. This is based on his lack of media presence. Even one state over Dolan really did not make national headlines in Milwaukee. His current diocesan show is still an local show with no effect outside the New York City archdiocese.
An better comparison in terms of media outreach would be someone on EWTN, like it or hate it (I am not a fan personally of the channel), it has the media reach somewhat comparable to Sheen's show. Mother Angelina, Fr. Groechel, and Fr. Corapi would be more modern media hosts to sheen, as ultra-traditional their views are, they reach many people through the EWTN, Relevent Radio, Ave Maria Radio, Catholic Answers media network (they share much of the same content/guests) etc... as Sheen did.
The sketch of Dolan is
The sketch of Dolan is accurate. He is smart, but it would be too much to say he had a "towering intellect." Sheen was his intellectual superior, but a hopeless romantic without any administrative skills whatever. A priest with a truly towering intellect, and a brilliant preacher and speaker into the bargain, is Fr. Robert Barron. His forthcoming "Catholicism Project" (filmed alll over the world for TV and DVD) will make him more widely known. Just 50, he has the strong support of Card. George. He is definitely one to watch.
But these days we have an
But these days we have an intriguing parallel to track, because if there is a Fulton Sheen of this generation -- meaning an American bishop with the same capacity to engage a national audience, to make Catholicism seem attractive to a secular world -- it’s probably Timothy Dolan, who also just happens to be the new Archbishop of New York."
Sounds like John Allen has been bitten by nostalgia for someone like Fulton Sheen. If only the RCC was truly kinder. Maybe a "Tim Dolan Show" would just hide the true mean-spirited RCC hierarchy and we could just laugh our way to oblivion with Tim Dolan.
Where exactly AB Tim Dolan stands on many of the issues that divide us today? He's just charming, says hello to everyone, even the janitor, John says. Sounds like the nostalgia for the reign of PJPII the Great charmer, but who allowed for the very meanies most of us dislike into positions of leadership as Bishops and Cardinals who enabled pedophiles to breed in the Church and commit more sex crimes, and create the very divisions the Church suffers now to the pathological spirit of VI.
What on earth would Dolan make attractive at all about the current Catholic Church when the leadership of its Pope in the CDF allowed for pedophilia and Priests and Bishops and Cardinals to devise a system to prevent justice and pastoral concern for the victims, and elevate those enablers to high positions in the Church? Will the smiles and charm of Dolan erase this truth and make it more attractive?
What is so charming about the Church's leadership enabling pedophilia for decades & hundreds of years, enabling misogyny for hundreds of years and gay-bashing and allowing them to still be in positions of authority? Will Tim Dolan charmingly propagate this distorted message that is not even Christian, with a big smile at everyone, and preach this to the secular world to mistakenly believe is good for them to believe in? If he says what is not credible or true, with charm and a smile, it seems it would just really make things worse. Nice try though, but this is not the 1950's.
Ah, a bit of fresh air and
Ah, a bit of fresh air and good news.
I had the privilege of
I had the privilege of studying in Rome and living in the Pontifical North American College (Casa Santa Maria) during the last three years of Archbishop Dolan's tenure as rector. As a priest of 24 years, I must say that I have never heard anyone (including Bishop Sheen - whom I heard speak in Los Angeles in his latter years) so powerful and engaging a homilist and preacher as Archbishop Dolan. His grasp of all aspects of the church and the imagery with which he presented was truly admirable.
He once said that, Pope John Paul II, (towards the end of his life) was the perfect icon of what it was to be a priest. John Paul was frail, and when he stood up, held on to the cross (crosier) depending on it for strength, stability and balance. Dolan reminded us that to be a good and effective priest, we too, like John Paul should always cling to Jesus, "hanging on" to the cross for our strength and equilibrium. The secret of his success as a 'preacher' is the fact that Dolan is first a man of prayer. His faith in Jesus was very evident in everything he said and did.
I also audited his 'History of the Catholic Church in America' course at the Gregorian University. I was not surprised that it was the only course in the Greg that had the most number of non-credit students. We came solely to hear the man and learn from his genius.
I too, like John Allen, hope that he would develop a national television show. Our country needs a high profile man to recapture (and challenge) the imagination of the American audience.
New York is very lucky to have him as their shepherd.
I started reading this
I started reading this article with a bored attitude and ended with a breath of joy for someone who can show care and appreciation to others. In the end all the theology in the world doesn't matter unless one can show it in life! I'm amazed at my own reaction just to read something uplifting about a bishop!
read Bishop Gumbleton each
read Bishop Gumbleton each week
The Archbishop recently wrote
The Archbishop recently wrote in a blog that Maureen Dowd of the New York Times was "anti-Catholic" for writing an article criticizing Church authorities for investigating religious women. His charactereization of someone who critizes administration folk as "anti-Catholic" strikes me as quite narrow minded.
First, have you ever read her
First, have you ever read her columns. They are very anti-Catholic. Second, he called the Times to task for the different ways they treat the Catholic Church vis a vis other religious groups and institutions. For example, there is a huge sex abuse crisis in the orthodox Jewish community. The Times, the same paper that called for public investigations into the Catholic Church, cautioned the police and DA into "reading too deeply into the problem" and suggested that this problem should be handled in house by the rabbis. In addition these stories were always small blurbs on inside pages. He simply called them to task for their double standards.
Couldn't agree less! Timothy
Couldn't agree less! Timothy Dolan is a personable showman. At first, he is a sharp contrast to the lackluster Cardinal Edward Egan; but I can almost guarantee that Timothy Dolan will impose his will in such a way that he will be telling us to go to hell, but in his unique style he will make us look forward to the trip! Sorry, but he is not a Fulton J. Sheen!
What a delightful image of
What a delightful image of Bishop Dolan! Indeed, a breath of fresh air, far away from the PRETENDS in Rome.God bless him and his Jesus-like approach to each and everyone around him.
SammyTassie
12/12/09
Hi, John & Shannon: I
Hi, John & Shannon:
I thououghly enjoyed your article on Archbishops Sheen and Dolan. As I am sure you are aware, Dolan wrote a great book a few years ago on the priesthood; it was based on talks he gave to the seminarians when he was rector at the North American College in Rome. Very well done. Some humor, of course, but good solid theology. Back when Sheen was popular his was one of the few t.v. programs we could watch as seminarians in San Antonio in the 1950's.
Retirement is nice; I do miss the folks in Hill City and Damar and get back there from time to time. I hope to visit your grandmother when next I go there, to see a basketball game on December 18th.
I do a lot of substituting for area priests and will be covering Mt. Joseph Home in Concordia for a while on weekends; their chaplain died last Sunday.
Lots of snow here, about ten inches and plenty of wind and snowdrifts. Schools were closed for two or three days.
Keep in touch. I hope to get to Denver sometime in February or March for a few days. Will give you a call and take you and Shannon out for a meal again-probably at Red Lobster since I like their seafood.
Remember me to Shannon. Merry Christmas!
Fr. Don McCarthy
"In an era when many Catholic
"In an era when many Catholic prelates can come across as a bit “charm-challenged,” perhaps being the “Archbishop of Charm” is actually a pretty good foundation upon which to build."
Memo to USCCB:
Place a BULK order for the DVD, as soon as Mr. Allen sells the movie rights for his forthcoming book to Hollywood!
I am from Milwaukee and I can
I am from Milwaukee and I can assure you, Archbishop Dolan is NO Fulton Sheen!
I do not want Bishop Sheen to
I do not want Bishop Sheen to be canonized because of what he did in Rochester. He made a huge show of planning to close three parishes and giving the proceeds to the poor, specifically announcing this move for publicity on Ash Wednesday. Yes, the poor need to be served, but these churches were in poor neighborhoods and were built on the sweat and offerings of the poor. According to Canon Law, if an asset must be alienated, the proceeds should go into another asset. It wasn't Vatican II that made him unpopular.
I was a member of Sacred Heart Cathedral parish, and we seldom saw this bishop, and when we did, he was quite distant. We had been spoiled by the loving kindness and presence of Bishops Karney and Casey. Consider canonizing these two bishops.
BISHOP SHEEN'S SECRET was his
BISHOP SHEEN'S SECRET was his prayer life. As a young priest, he made a vow to spend one hour in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament every day of his life. He kept his vow and did his hour of prayer even when he was excruciatingly tired and sleepy at the end of a long hard day. In the many retreats he gave his fellow priests,he always strongly recommended that they, too, spend an hour of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament every day.
He was a brilliant thinker, a prolific writer(a hundred books)and an awesome speaker and teacher. But he was, above all, a simple priest,who knew how to pray and who taught others how to pray. Today priests need to be mystics more so than activists. "But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." I pray the Lord will raise Bishop Sheen to the full honors of the altar.
Thanks for this article. As a
Thanks for this article. As a teenager my friend Natalie and I knocked on the door of Bishop Sheen's office in NYC. We were fans and asked for his autograph! He was charming and kind, gave us each a golden medal (now lost; I think it was of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith). Bishop Sheen played a major role in motivating me to enter the Maryknoll community, which I did. Have since left, but remain deeply influenced by the Maryknoll experience and the charisma of Bishop Sheen via t.v. and in person that long ago day.
peace,
Carolyn Grassi
Pacifica, California
I had the privilege of
I had the privilege of studying in Rome and living in the Pontifical North American College (Casa Santa Maria) during the last three years of Archbishop Dolan's tenure as rector. As a priest of 24 years, I must say that I have never heard anyone (including Bishop Sheen - whom I heard speak in Los Angeles in his latter years) so powerful and engaging a homilist and preacher as Archbishop Dolan. His grasp of all aspects of the church and the imagery with which he presented was truly admirable.
For example, in a Holy Thursday homily Dolan once said that, Pope John Paul II, (towards the end of his life) was the perfect icon of what it was to be a priest. As he stood, the frail John Paul held and leaned on to the cross (crosier) with both hands depending on it for strength, stability and balance. Dolan reminded us that to be good and effective priests, we too, like John Paul should always cling to Jesus, "hanging on" to the cross for our strength and equilibrium. The secret of his success as a 'preacher' is the fact that Dolan is first a man of prayer. His faith in Jesus was very evident in everything he said and did - an inspiration to seminarians and priests at PNAC.
He is also an excellent teacher. I audited his 'History of the Catholic Church in America' course at the Gregorian University. The room was always filled to capacity. I was not surprised that it was the only course in the Greg that had the most number of non-credit students. We came solely to hear the man and learn from his genius.
I too, like John Allen, hope that he would develop a national television show. Our country needs a high profile man (with a sense of humor) to recapture and challenge the imagination of the American audience.
New York is very lucky to have him as their shepherd.
Is Jesus the Cross?
Is Jesus the Cross?
GOOD ARTICLE. WOULD LIKE TO
GOOD ARTICLE. WOULD LIKE TO LEARN MORE OF REV. TIM DOLAN...PLEASE SEND ME WHATEVER YOU HAVE, AND CAN. GOD BLESS YOU FOR YOUR KEEPING CAT-LICKS INFORMER. I KNOW HOW TO SPELL CATHOLIC , BUT YEARS AGO, THIS IS HOW A YOUNG WROTE IT FOR ME. I PRAY THE WORLD IS CHANGING FOR GOD... EDWARD KOZIOL....MEXICO BEACH, FLORIDA 324546
As a priest in Milwaukee, I
As a priest in Milwaukee, I saw Dolan in action for about 6 years. Charming? Yes. Calculating?
VERY! Many people realized after a couple of years underneath this Archbishop's charm ,was someone who know what he wanted and would go to any links to get it.
Dolan puts out as much "b.s." as he does genuine concern and feeling for the needs of others. For example, he cut all ministry services to prisons, nursing homes, new immigrants and AIDS victims because he claimed the Archdiocese couldn't afford it. Isn't there something in the Bible about caring for these little ones? And yet, he went out of his way for photo ops "hugging" these people. He would do anything to please the Vatican. Everyone knew he was plotting to become a Cardinal for the past several years, dispite his insistance he loved Milwaukee, and wanted to be buried here.
He'd make a great politican in Congress....
These insightful comments
These insightful comments from a priest in Milwaukee provide an interesting and important sidelight to Mr. Allen's reportage here, including the remark regarding wishing to be buried in Milwaukee, when Mr. Allen holds he has already had himself measured for a crypt and a half at Saint Patrick's, a certain sign he is aiming for Saint Peter's instead.
A Priest does provide this disturbing point: "underneath this Archbishop's charm ,was someone who know what he wanted and would go to any links to get it."
What, would he even travel to any golf links?? Well, there are few imprisoned, elderly ill, new immigrants and AIDS victims there to embrace while cutting there much needed services . . .
Plenty of idle rich, though, eager to display themselves pious while wealthy.
Well, he had to do a lot to
Well, he had to do a lot to clean up the mess that Weakland left.
How so and how well
How so and how well accomplished?
Specifically.
Let us pray for our new president cleaning up the REAL historic mess left by his predecessor!
I loved Dolan's book on
I loved Dolan's book on Bishop O'Hara, Some Seed Fell on Good Ground. (I'd rather see O'Hara canonized than Sheen.) (O'Hara confirmed me. What a great bishop. Liberal. Integrated Catholic schools in Kansas City. Etc.)
The Archbishop just
The Archbishop just celebrated a funeral Mass today for my cousin who was a priest. He visited him in the hospital and gave great comfort to my family. And this morning after processing down the aisle, he did not go up to the altar right away but rather came over to our pews and greeted us in a very endearing manner. During the Mass his face showed genuine concern yet a beautiful joy to be part of the event. He was totally present to us even though I overheard him discussing his busy schedule for the rest of the day; we only saw his desire to be there with us. He is the "real deal."
I wonder how many people in
I wonder how many people in Milwaukee would agree with John Allen's "canonization" of Timothy Dolan.
I think he had to find out
I think he had to find out just how much money Weakland stole to pay off his sex buddies. He had a lot to clean up there. But he left with many new priestly vocations in the pipeline and a diocese that was returning to the Catholic faith from whatever it was that Weakland practiced.
Evil comes in many guises.
Evil comes in many guises.
At the moment, I'm voting for
At the moment, I'm voting for Fr. Dan Felton of Green Bay, Bishop Robert Morneau of Green Bay. Both have wonderful stage presence and everything it takes inside to be spiritual leaders. Of course there are many others, so, I'll just get back to you on my other nominations.
Still another gaga puff piece
Still another gaga puff piece by Allen re a prelate who has deigned to grant Allen access. It is high time Allen was rotated to another assignment. He has drunk way too much of the Roman clerical kool-aid.
Don't go Lady Gaga over this
Don't go Lady Gaga over this post-modernist puff piece which like a work of Mr. James Joyce contains its key in the first line: "I once had a church history professor who loved counter-factual thought exercises."
This writing by the brilliant Mr. Allen proves a counter-factual thought exercise, as Allen doth protest too much praise and puff puff, while providing abundant factual evidence of the reality of this venal and ambitious man. He comes not to praise him but to bury him under an avanlanche of evidence against him, presented amongst the overstuffed wool of false praise.
Taken point by point, we find the examples giving are in fact damning. Like a writing from James Joyce, I invite you to read it carefully, between the lines and what actually screams out over and over among the soft words of praise, of comparison to Fulton Sheen, a comparison clearly counter-factual.
TAke those jokes out of the present context, cut and paste them, and read them to someone who does not know their provenance, and see what a reaction they draw, of concern, of rejection of their prejudice, of their maliciousness. Examine carefully the embrace of the enslaved custodian and wonder where the economic equity lies. Look point by point and you will see that brilliantly Mr. Allen was performed a virtuoso counter-factual thought exercise in the name of false praise.
Frere Charles, Once I figure
Frere Charles,
Once I figure what the hell you just wrote, maybe I can respond. Thanks for gracing all of us with your aspirant academic drivel. A Blessed Lent to you.
A major irony: why has
A major irony: why has Archbishop Dolan and so many other Catholic prelates granted access to Allen? It is because the National Catholic Reporter, for at least two decades if not longer, has been the most influential and important Catholic publication in America, read by everyone who is influential in the Church, including most bishops. BUT, per the bishops and most pastors, you will hardly ever find NCR offered at any magazine stand in any parish church. You will find only the diocesan paper, safe "Readers Digest" type Catholic publications, and the publications of the Catholic right, including those consumed by the anti-abortion crusade. Yes, the bishops want access to Allen and NCR but they are not about to give Allen and NCR access to the average man or woman in the pews.
I don't think there is any
I don't think there is any real irony. Mr. Allen is known to be an objective Catholic reporter.
"You will hardly ever find NCR offered at any magazine stand in any parish church."
Yeah, for about the same reason you won't normally find sedevacantist publications: the paper many times promotes and gives favor to ideologies and fads that are in conflict with the teachings of the Catholic Church.
"Yes, the bishops want access to Allen and NCR but they are not about to give Allen and NCR access to the average man or woman in the pews."
So.... the bishops have banned church goers from purchasing a subscription to this paper, or going to this site to read its content? Sorry, the Church is not obligated to hock your wares.
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