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PDF versionMSW on +Dolan in Newsweek
by Michael Sean Winters on Feb. 21, 2012
Newsweek asked me to do this week's "Person of Interest" column on Cardinal Timothy Dolan. Here it is.
MORE DOLAN HYPE .............
MORE DOLAN HYPE ............. MSW, now Cardinal Dolan has two reasons to love NCR: John Allen and you. Let us hope neither of you call for his canonization prematurely. The investigations are only beginning.
For a different perspective on Dolan's record, please read the crosslinks and comment,"Pope Dolan, God Help Us", readily accessible by clicking on at:
http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/pope-new-cardinals-%E2%80%98forget-...
Anyone else tired of trivial
Anyone else tired of trivial and angry comments like this one? I'm going to take Mr. Winters understanding (found in an article) over that of a comment in a comment box.
Nicely written piece. But
Nicely written piece. But man, where did they get that sketch?
Micahel, Placet I am sure you
Micahel, Placet
I am sure you will always have an open door at Dolan's place.
The piece is nice. Only difficulty I have is in coming to terms with
two things. The idea of a win? How american but how very un-respectful to
the sensus fidelium. I have a feeling the idea of Sensus Fidelium has been made anathema and is to be treated with silence by the Hierarchy. Is this
communio/omerta approach theologically valid? The other item is your claim
that they are coming out from the shadow of the sexabuse crisis is ridiculus.
It will be a generation or two before any reasonable catholic will extend
anything but a very cautious ear to anything these men say or do. Meanwhile,
we ordinary catholics will find guidance wherever we may. Can't blame you for
being a reporter and needing your guarantee of an in when it counts. Sadly
much gets left out by this approach. With the guidance of the Holy Spirit
I believe that our form of government will still insist of the separation of church and state. Its the American Way and what the good cardinal is doing I
find quite un-American.
God Bless.
TomC
MSW, you wrote: "Dolan is
MSW, you wrote:
"Dolan is fast becoming the face of Catholicism in America, just as Jerry Falwell was for white evangelicals. But unlike Falwell, Dolan isn’t tied to a narrow ideological framework imposed by biblical fundamentalism, and he isn’t a culture warrior. In his struggles with the Obama administration, Dolan isn’t looking for a war, but he is looking for a win."
Really? You actually think that Dolan IS NOT a narrow ideologue in the service of a discredited political hegemony over the Catholic Church?
When was Jesus ever concerned about "win[-ning]"????? I seem to recall: "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's."
Dolan and his brother hierarchs have only reinforced, with the clumsy political missteps, which the Obama administration easily outmaneuvered, in the minds of American Catholics that they, the hierarchs are so totally irrelevant to and alienated from our lives.
If Dolan is the "face of Catholicism in America," we really are going over the cliff into the abyss. The "red hat" that Dolan just received in Rome is in partial payment for his service to his liege lords in the Vatican - in case you haven't noticed MSW, Ratzinger is losing his grip and the preliminary political Vatican infighting prior to the next conclave has broken out in public - not a sign of strength by any means. The slow-motion implosion of the hierarchy continues unabated.
While his political constituency may be different from Obama and Falwell, Dolan is a POLITICIAN, first and foremost, in the world's oldest, all-male feudal oligarchy.
The recent Dolan-led political gambit by American hierarchs to injure the reelection chances of President Obama, and at the same time give a boost in the ever more bizarre Republican primaries to his erstwhile Opus Dei-like, Manchurian candidate, Rick Santorum, is all the evidence anyone should ever need to understand just what motivates the American Catholic hierarchy.
Politics is all the hierarchs live for. The hierarchs don't give a hoot for "religious liberty" or "freedom of conscience." It’s all about them, their power, and their privilege - and how can we knock down women yet one more time.
And, the hierarchs' political machinations are only made possible by the hierarchs' unfettered and unaccountable access to $billions salted away in investments to use as their "slush fund" in playing havoc with American elections. The hierarchs are no different than other political interlopers like Karl Rove or the Koch brothers.
If Catholicism is to even survive until the end of the 21st century, Catholic women and men will have to take matters into their own hands: Devise strategies to separate the MONEY from the MINISTRY. No sons or daughters, or grandchildren for service in the church until the hierarchs begin to respect and honor the HUMAN DIGNITY of ALL women and men.
NCR, MSW,JA & DOLAN
NCR, MSW,JA & DOLAN .......... Thanks, Jim, for getting more of the Dolan story out. NCR apparently zapped my comment here, since I alluded to the sycophantic imbalance in MSW's and John Allen's reporting on Dolan. Disappointing, but after the misguided NCR editorial supporting the bishops against the HHS contraception regs, not too surprising.
As to Dolan being Rigali's protege, Rigali made him his auxiliary bishop in St. Louis where Dolan was born and raised and taught at the local seminary. While Dolan understandably seems presently to keep a safe distance publicly from Rigali, Dolan knows as an historian, you can avoid facts for awhile, but not erase them permanently.
Please note both the NY Archdiocese's website and Dolan's carefully scrubbed Wikipedia entry.
It's the new Lum and Abner**
It's the new Lum and Abner** show:
Dolan - good cop.
Chapped Lips - bad cop (http://articles.philly.com/2012-02-19/news/31077336_1_contraception-mand...)
** well there must be SOMEONE out there to remember them!
I remember the "Lum & Abner"
I remember the "Lum & Abner" Show on the radio. When I visited my relatives as a small child who lived in mountainous Western Maryland where TV broadcast signals were always very iffy, we would listen to the radio instead.
My aunt and uncle had a big console radio in the parlor that was more like a piece of furniture that had to be tuned manually on a big dial - there was also a turn table to listen to records, mostly Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Rosemary Clooney. My aunt would be doing her housework and cooking listening to her soap operas in the background: "The Guiding Light," "John's Other Wife," "The Light of the World," "Ma Perkins."
When TV became more established, my aunts became loyal fans of the afternoon soaps.
Some have stated that Dolan
Some have stated that Dolan was a protege of Cardinal Rigali. If that is the case, it should have been mentioned. If not, his resume should have been given enough coverage to state that this is not the case.
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