Posted on 10/23/2004 7:25:00 AM PDT by ninenot
The nation's 273 active Roman Catholic bishops have nominated a 10-candidate field that includes Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan and two cardinals for election as president and vice president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The incumbent vice president - in this case, Bishop William S. Skylstad of Spokane, Wash. - traditionally is elected president.
However, selecting a new vice president is another matter. Even though Dolan, 54, has been a bishop only since 2001 and archbishop here for just two years, his potential to be elected vice president of the conference when it meets next month in Washington, D.C., cannot be ruled out.
"He's got as good a chance as any of them," said Father Thomas Reese, editor of the Jesuit weekly magazine America and author of the book "Archbishop: Inside the Power Structure of the American Catholic Church."
"He's well respected by the bishops," Reese said. "The more I think about it, the more I think Dolan has a good chance."
The president and vice president serve three-year terms. Bishop Wilton D. Gregory of Belleville, Ill., is completing a high-pressure presidency in which he guided the U.S. church through its greatest crisis, the sexual abuse of minors by priests and coverups by bishops.
Reese said this is the first time since 1986 that the nomination list includes a cardinal.
In fact, there are two of them - Cardinal Francis E. George of Chicago, a potentially influential regional neighbor, and Cardinal Justin F. Rigali of Philadelphia, who was Dolan's mentor when Rigali was archbishop of Dolan's home archdiocese, St. Louis.
Cardinals have been reluctant to have their names placed in nomination since 1986, when former Boston Cardinal Bernard Law embarrassingly lost election both to the vice presidency and to be the representative at a Vatican synod, Reese said.
The bishops tend to seek people for the presidency and vice presidency whom they trust to listen to the full body of bishops, Reese said. And, although anything can happen, bishops have generally seen cardinals as already having enough influence in the church, he added.
"The president's job is to be a spokesperson for the U.S. bishops, and that means that he has to be very careful in speaking, that what he says has the backing of the bishops," Reese said.
"They don't look for someone who's going to be a trailblazer and do radical things. They're looking for somebody who is moderate, who is cautious, who doesn't get out ahead of the other bishops. In other words, someone who is as much a follower as a leader."
Other candidates are: Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein of Indianapolis; Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Denver; Bishop Blase J. Cupich of Rapid City, S.D.; Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas of Tucson, Ariz.; Archbishop William J. Levada of San Francisco; and Bishop Donald W. Wuerl of Pittsburgh.
A number of factors work in the favor of Dolan, who has a doctorate in American church history from Catholic University of America.
Dolan - a strong admirer and supporter of Pope John Paul II - is more conservative and traditional than his predecessor, former Archbishop Rembert G. Weakland. Weakland was considered the most visible liberal bishop in a U.S. episcopacy where few liberals remained.
Reese sees Dolan as a moderate among today's bishops.
Dolan also has had a baptism by fire, stepping in after Weakland retired after the revelation that the archdiocese paid $450,000 to a man who claimed that Weakland sexually assaulted him in 1979 when the man was 30.
Dolan has reached out to Catholics in the 10-county archdiocese with warmth, humor and optimism while dealing with both a budget crisis and the sexual abuse crisis. He also has followed the Vatican and U.S. bishops by implementing new liturgical norms that reduce the roles of the laity, which upset some Catholics.
Dolan also has been criticized by members of the group Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests who were unhappy with his handling of mediation in abuse cases.
Over a five-year period in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Dolan served in Washington, D.C., as secretary for two papal nuncios, the pope's delegate to the United States. And Dolan served as rector of the Pontifical North American College, an elite seminary in Rome for men selected by their bishops from 1994 until June 2001.
Both of those positions put him in regular touch with U.S. bishops and Vatican officials. The presence of 70 bishops and eight cardinals when he was installed as archbishop in Milwaukee's cathedral was seen at the time as a sign of his popularity.
"One of the jobs of the president is to represent the U.S. bishops to the Vatican, and clearly it's advantageous to have someone who has some experience in Rome," Reese said.
Dolan's seminary experiences in Rome and St. Louis, and his current position as chairman of the bishops' Priestly Life and Ministry Committee also could be helpful.
Bishops who were nominated had the option of declining.
Dolan was traveling Friday and not available for comment, said archdiocesan spokeswoman Kathleen Hohl, who added, "I'm sure Archbishop Dolan is appreciative of the confidence his brother bishops have shown in him by forwarding his name for consideration for conference leadership positions."
The elections will be Nov. 15, the first day of the bishops' four-day gathering. Once the president is elected, the vice president will be selected from the remaining nine candidates. They take office at the conclusion of the gathering.
The assessment that Bp. Dolan is "conservative" is a bit inaccurate. He's certainly bland enough.
They don't look for someone who's going to be a trailblazer and do radical things. They're looking for somebody who is moderate, who is cautious, who doesn't get out ahead of the other bishops. In other words, someone who is as much a follower as a leader."
For these two reasons, Dolan has a good shot at the VP slot. However, the last Archbishop to hold the Presidency was Bernardin, back in the 70s.
For this reason, my money is on Wuerl.
It will be interesting to see who will get the nod, as it will indicate the level of influence the recent spate of younger, more orthodox bishops has.
(Laurie Dolan [Evil] is running against Rep. Brad Benson [Good] to represent my district in the State Senate.)
Certainly would be harmless. You could read a few more of my posts on his activity up here.
To be fair, he's been in all the right places--Schoenstatt, the Pro-Life dinners, etc. But there's the old saw about 'actions speaking louder than words.'
Along with some others up here (and NONE of us are SSPX-types) I think that Abp. Dolan should pull off a couple of ceremonial executions--you know, sending a not-really-Catholic parish priest from their fat/wealthy suburban parishes to some post in the hinterlands--it's a message.
So far, the only 'messages' have been delivered at the Seminary, and they are decidedly mixed. Same with the Catholic newspaper; he's retained McBrien's column and will no longer print letters from certain members of the laity...
Fortitudo non est in eo.
Dolan hedged on not ordaining homosexuals...I'm not so sure about him. Conservative veneer ... milketoast core...he'll probably win.
So, invite him to a little get together with the TTGC ...
"...from their fat/wealthy suburban parishes to some post in the hinterlands--"
What about the poor folks in the hinterlands? Just skip the "ceremonial" part.
"Fortitudo non est in eo."
(Fortitudo non est in illis.) could be said of almost all of our bishops. He fits right in with the crowd.
This has to be one of the more blind reporters in the world. I nearly spilled my whiskey when I read this. It does, however, speak to why he considers Dolan conservative.
Just a side note to this, though, that makes the article a little more humorous. There is a sedevacantist Bishop Dolan in Cincinnati. The article takes on a whole new tone if you read his name into it (where possible) instead.
Fortitudo non est in eo.
I'm glad to see that you have come to an objective conclusion after the honeymoon period has worn off. Those of us who said that he was already a failure the moment he put on the "cheesehead mitre" for his inaugural Mass might have been jumping to conclusions, it's true, but in the long run appearances were not deceiving, and you can't "make heads roll" while you're wearing a large cheese on your head.
I used "eo" because I did not wish to use the demonstrative "illo." Just a statement of fact, not really an accusation (yet.)
The folks in the hinterlands have had a wonderful 27+ years, because they got all the GOOD priests while we had to suffer with the poofterwonkies.
Their turn in the barrel.
Actually, Max, we at the TTGC have been practicing beheadings with AND without cheeseheads for a while.
We sort of wanted to inject a little showmanship and flair; you know, beheadings can be SOOOOO drab and depressing.
Dolan, unlike his predecessor, does no harm, and actually does a little good.
On a scale of 0-100, he gets a 58 or so. (Compare Bruskewitz at about 95; he loses 5 points for not paying his musicians more than anyone else in the Diocese...)
"I used "eo" because I did not wish to use the demonstrative "illo." Just a statement of fact, not really an accusation (yet.)"
Sorry. I wasn't trying to criticize your Latin.
I was just pluralizing "eo" and beefing it up with a stronger demonstrative to better reflect my opinion.
"The folks in the hinterlands have had a wonderful 27+ years, because they got all the GOOD priests while we had to suffer with the poofterwonkies."
I live in the boonies and am one parish away from the poofer who was possibly the most expensive serial queer molester in church history. Almost single-handedly he caused the first diocesan bankruptcy in U.S. history. We get newly ordained padres who stay three to six years and move on. We now have in my parish the most liberal padre, politically and liturgically, that I have ever met. Our seminary seems to infect its students with all sorts of heterodoxy.
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