Archbishop Timothy Dolan, courtesy of beliefnet

The National Catholic Reporter quotes Fr. David O’Connell, president of the Catholic University of America, as saying about Archbishop Timothy Dolan: “If the part of archbishop of New York could ever be scripted…Dolan would really be cast in that role.”  Having lived in New York, and knowing Archbishop Dolan a little myself, I see what he means: such an outgoing, larger-than-life character definitely has what it takes to shine on the outsized stage of the Big Apple.  As they say, if he can make it there, he can make it anywhere, and I’m sure he will do just fine.

But we don’t need to forget that Archbishop Timothy Dolan is a true native son of St. Louis.  Born and raised here, he was also ordained here, spent several years in parish ministry here (starting at Immacolata Parish), and has served as vice rector of Kenrick-Glennon Seminary,…

Archbishop Timothy Dolan

Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy Dolan was named archbishop of New York by Pope Benedict XVI Monday.

Dolan, the 59-year-old St. Louis native, has been rumored to be Benedict’s pick to head the most prominent diocese in the U.S. for months.

“My brother bishops, priests, religious women and men, seminarians, committed Catholics of this wonderful Church,” Dolan said in a statement, “I pledge to you my love, my life, my heart, and I can tell you already that I love you, I need so much your prayers and support, I am so honored, humbled, and happy to serve as your pastor.”

The St. Louis Archdiocese’s interim leader, Bishop Robert Hermann, said Dolan “has been a stellar priest…”

church-and-mosque-in-sweden http://www.tukler.com/bildhtml_en/1847-12.html

Looking at all the catholic news recently, there was one a few months ago that perhaps should have received some more attention. A very high level meeting occurred in April between the Vatican and a delegation from Iran. The outcome of the meeting was a joint communiqué issued in which there were a number of items that the participants agreed on. And they committed to keep meeting, with the next meeting scheduled in Tehran within two years. The full communiqué is available here.

Here are the first three items they agreed on:

1. Faith and reason are both gifts of God to mankind.

2. Faith and reason do not contradict each other, but faith might in some cases be above reason, but never against it.

3. Faith and reason are intrinsically non-violent. Neither reason nor faith should be used for violence; unfortunately, both of them have been sometimes misused to perpetrate violence. In…

A story in the New York Times sports section Sunday about the women’s golf phenom, Lorena Ochoa delved into the rarely-coincidental worlds of sports wagering and religion.

Despite it’s headline, “Keeping Faith, Ochoa Takes Magical Tour,” and a mention in the fifth paragraph that the 26-year-old Mexican golfer is Roman Catholic, the story was a sports piece - about a golf pro whom everyone seems to like.

However, reporter Karen Crouse hooks onto an interesting anecdote toward the end of the story.

After telling us that Ochoa gives herself incentives, which “always involves candy,” we learn that during a round in Mexico City last March:

…Ochoa told Brooker, who does not belong to any organized religion, that she was worried his daughters would be shut out of heaven. How many tournaments would she have to win, she asked, for him to have his children, Hadley, 3, and Madelaine, 2, baptized?

Brooker, taken aback by the question,…

In Tuesday’s Pennsylvania primary, Roman Catholics in the state sent a clear message to the two Democratic candidates. By more than a two to one margin, according to exit polls, Catholics chose Sen. Hillary Clinton over Sen. Barack Obama.

The 70 percent to 30 percent Catholic beat-down of Obama was even larger than the 63 percent to 36 percent trouncing the Illinois senator took from Ohio Catholics in that state’s primary last month.

What’s going on here?

It’s not like Clinton is picketing outside Planned Parenthood next to Catholic bishops. Abortion-rights group Naral Pro-Choice America gives both Clinton and Obama 100 percent ratings, a designation Clinton has maintained every year since 2002.

Non-Catholics saw things differently in Pennsylvania. Obama actually bettered Clinton among protestants and other in Pennsylvania, and among non-religious voters he nearly reversed the Catholic numbers - 64 percent to 36 percent.

Obama is expected to win the May 6 North Carolina primary, so attention has…

I was raised in Hawaii, possibly the most secular and multicultural state in the union. My mother is a devout Catholic and my father a committed atheist. So when people talk about how to engage in inter-religious dialogue, I want to say, “Boy, you should have grown up in my house!” Every day was a kind of unspoken dialogue about how our beliefs shape our lives, with competing systems of belief claiming superiority in the where-the-rubber-hits-the-road category.

While it’s fairly obvious that, as an Episcopalian, my core beliefs are closer to my mother’s than my father’s, it has been part of growing up for me to see how much my values were influenced by my dad. His beliefs, which are based on a liberal political outlook and a passionate desire for social justice, had a direct impact on his actions. He took low-pay, low-status jobs as a Legal Aid lawyer because it…