Archbishop Dolan plans to imitate Fulton Sheen and Cardinal O'Connor

New York City, N.Y., Oct 27, 2009 / 22:48 pm

Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York told EWTN host Raymond Arroyo in an interview last Friday on “The World Over Live” that he hopes to reach out to and communicate with the world using media  like his predecessors,  Archbishop Fulton Sheen and Cardinal John O'Connor.

He noted that he will still be visiting parishes like his predecessor, Cardinal Egan, but Archbishop Dolan will also be celebrating televised masses at St. Patrick's Cathedral.

“I’m not doing this to make this a bully pulpit or to attract attention…but I do think it’s probably a valued part of being the Archbishop of New York – that you would recognize, realistically, that you do have a good pulpit and people are going to listen to what you say,” Archbishop Dolan said. He continued by saying, “We’re not ashamed of the Gospel, we’re never ashamed of the teachings of the Church, and any way you can get that out, bring it on!”

Archbishop Dolan also reflected on the famous Archbishop Fulton Sheen, who is buried in the crypt at St. Patrick's Cathedral. “I would never pretend to be like him. …I would never pretend to have his culture and bearing, but I would have to say that he’s an inspiration to me… to bring the immutable truths of the Catholic Faith to a very changing culture and society.”

Archbishop Sheen, who was called “a prophet of the times” by Pope Pius XII and “the Great Communicator” by Billy Graham, was one of the first and most effective men to use radio and television to convey the Good News of Christ to a national audience. 

Speaking about his pastoral approach, Archbishop Dolan said that he will “go back to the Cardinal O’Connor way” of treating every homily at St. Patrick’s Cathedral as a state of the nation address, commenting on the practical things with which people are wrestling. 

Taking the legacy of these men, Archbishop Dolan hopes to reach out to the City of New York, a city that he describes as “a very Catholic city,” despite the fact that, to most people, the city “represents paganism secular society, and  materialism.” 

Archbishop Dolan has a weekly radio program, broadcast on the diocesan  radio channels and on the Catholic Channel of Sirius XM radio.  His daily masses as well as the 10:15 mass on Sunday will also be broadcast on television and radio.

When asked what mark he wanted to leave on the archdiocese, Archbishop Dolan replied, “I would hope they would say 'he brought us a little closer to Jesus Christ ... That he reminded us of Jesus, and he brought us closer to Christ and his Church.'”