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The SiriusXM website now has the full audio from Tuesday night’s live broadcast event – “SiriusXM’s Town Hall with Cardinal Dolan.” Just in case you missed it, you can listen to it by clicking on the image below.
Click here to listen to the audio file.
I would like to share with you the following press release that was issued yesterday by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops on President Obama’s Remarks On Marriage.
CARDINAL DOLAN: PRESIDENT OBAMA’S REMARKS ON MARRIAGE ‘DEEPLY SADDENING’WASHINGTON—Cardinal Timothy Dolan, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), issued the following statement:President Obama’s comments today in support of the redefinition of marriage are deeply saddening. As I stated in my public letter to the President on September 20, 2011, the Catholic Bishops stand ready to affirm every positive measure taken by the President and the Administration to strengthen marriage and the family. However, we cannot be silent in the face of words or actions that would undermine the institution of marriage, the very cornerstone of our society. The people of this country, especially our children, deserve better. Unfortunately, President Obama’s words today are not surprising since they follow upon various actions already taken by his Administration that erode or ignore the unique meaning of marriage. I pray for the President every day, and will continue to pray that he and his Administration act justly to uphold and protect marriage as the union of one man and one woman. May we all work to promote and protect marriage and by so doing serve the true good of all persons.-30-
Last night, The Catholic Channel (SiriusXM channel 129) aired a special two-hour live broadcast event called, “SiriusXM’s Town Hall with Cardinal Dolan.” I sat with 20 listeners for a Q&A session and discussed topics like how my life has changed since I’ve become a cardinal, favorite flavor of gelato, and what events have influenced me the most in my priesthood. It was a special treat to have Matt Lauer of the Today Show stop by and to have baseball great Joe Torre and my mom call in.
With Today Show host Matt Lauer, who made a surprise visit during the broadcast (Photo by Matthew Peyton/Getty Images for SiriusXM)
Catholic Channel program director Father Jonathan Morris and Tim Farley, host of The Morning Briefing on POTUS moderated the Q&A session. (Photo by Matthew Peyton/Getty Images for SiriusXM)
Answering questions from listeners
I also launched my new Twitter account, which I am really excited about. You can follow my tweets @CardinalDolan.
For those of you who missed it, you can tune in to the show on Sirius XM 129 during one the replays – Saturday, May 12 (10:00 am ET & 7:00 pm ET) and Sunday, May 13 (12:00 pm ET & 10:00 pm ET).
In my recent Catholic New York column, I wrote about the most influential person in my life – Jesus Christ. Let me share an excerpt with you:
In our readings at daily Mass this Easter season, we often hear from the Acts of the Apostles. There we read that the earliest followers of our Lord were often arrested, hauled into court, and punished brutally because of the Name.
“We told you to stop preaching that Name!” the religious leaders warned them.
And, after being scourged, the Bible records that the apostles “…left rejoicing for their suffering for the sake of the Name.”
Jesus: the Name above every other name!
Everything that we in the Church do—teach, heal, serve, sanctify, feed, clothe, organize, pray—we do in, for, through, because of the Name.
You can read my whole column here.
Here in the archdiocese we have a wonderful tradition of inviting the seniors in our Catholic high schools to attend a special mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The masses were held last week on April 25 and April 26. I would like to share with you the two outstanding talks given by Nicolas Camacho of Salesian High School in New Rochelle and Kieffer Peralta of All Hallows High School in the Bronx. I found their speeches to be inspiring. Catholic New York, our Archdiocesan newspaper, carried the text of their remarks. I thought I’d share them with you.
‘A Special Place for God’ – Nicolas Camacho of Salesian High School
‘A Beacon of Light’ - Kieffer Peralta of All Hallows High School
Archbishop Jose Gomez, the Archbishop of Los Angeles and the Chairman of the USCCB Committee on Migration, had an excellent article in the Washington Post analyzing the potential drastic outcome if the Supreme Court upholds Arizona’s immigration law. The Archbishop writes:
“Most disturbing, upholding Arizona’s law would change our American identity as a welcoming nation, which has served us well since our inception. The goals of Arizona-type laws are to discourage immigrants from coming and to encourage those who are here to leave. We must carefully consider whether that is the signal we want to send to the world, given that immigrants and their ancestors—all of us—built this country and will continue to renew it.”
You can read the whole article here.
I was not that surprised to read it, were you?
The Wall Street Journal a couple of weeks ago had a fine piece by Peter Beinart, very effectively making the point that, if Jews in the United States are worried about their children and grandchildren keeping the faith – - and are they ever worried! – - well, the best course of action is to support Jewish grade and high schools.
Mr. Beinart convincingly shows that Jewish children who attend Hebrew private schools are statistically much more likely, as adults, to practice their Jewish faith, attend synagogue, marry a Jewish spouse, and pass on the faith of Israel to their own children.
He remarks that American Judaism is at a crisis, with more and more Jews leaving their faith, and not raising their own children as faithful Jews. A strong Jewish school system, argues the author, will correct that.
Sound familiar? We Catholics have known this for years: there is no more tried-and-true way of passing on our Catholic faith to our kids than by sacrificing to put them in a Catholic school. Data proves they persevere in the faith at higher rates, pray better, are more faithful to Sunday Mass, live gospel values, are more generous to their parish, even have happier marriages, volunteer more, and transmit the faith to their own children, than those not in a Catholic school.
In our nation’s history, Catholic schools had two goals: to educate excellently, and to form children in the faith. Both are essential.
I recently had the pleasure of meeting with leaders in our Catholic high schools. They observed that, in some of their areas, the public schools were, thank God, offering a good education. Lord knows, they remarked, their facilities, and the frills in the government schools, were more dazzling than the Catholic high schools.
So, they asserted, there was only one reason for a parent to sacrifice financially to send his/her son/daughter to the Catholic high school: formation in faith, values, character, discipline, and religion . . . along with a first class education.
In other words, Catholic identity is a priority.
If our schools are not visibly and robustly Catholic, let’s save a lot of money and close them in areas where our children can get a decent academic education free of charge.
Our Jewish neighbors have come to know that; we had best rediscover it!
Let me share with you my recent Catholic New York column about the paschal season. Here is an excerpt:
A blessed Easter, everybody!
Now, don’t you go wondering why I’m still giving Easter greetings a dozen days after the great feast!
Just as it took us 40 days to prepare for Easter—that’s what Lent was all about—so now it takes us 40 days to celebrate Easter. That will bring us up to the Feast of the Ascension, when Jesus, risen from the dead, after spending 40 days with His disciples, returned to His Father in heaven.
Actually, it doesn’t even end there, because then, on the Ascension, we’ll unite with Our Lady and the Apostles in a novena, nine days of prayer, bringing us to Pentecost Sunday and the gift of the Holy Spirit.
So, be patient with me, because I like to say “Happy Easter” for the 50 days after the great Feast!
You can read my whole column here.
Time Magazine just named me as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. While the only list I really think about is the scroll of heaven, I must admit appreciation at this selection, and being counted among such influential people. The only “influence” I might have comes from faith, prayer, family, friends, and the ones I serve.
Today, the Archdiocese of New York released the following statement to the press regarding the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops 2011 Annual Report on the implementation of the Charter for Protection of Children and Young People.
ARCHDIOCESE OF NEW YORK IN FULL COMPLIANCE WITH CHILD PROTECTION CHARTER
For the seventh consecutive year the Archdiocese of New York was found to be in full compliance with the Bishop’s Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, created in 2002, in response to the grave problem of child sexual abuse in Catholic institutions. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops released their annual summary earlier this week.
The situation in the Archdiocese of New York details how we have continued to ensure a safe environment for our young people. Since 2003, the Archdiocese has completed a total of 87,926 background checks on clergy, employees, and volunteers, including 7,588 for the most recent calendar year of 2011. Additionally, during the same time period 78,893 people have received safe environment training – more than 7800 in the past year — and 157,479 school children received age appropriate safety training in the 2010-2011 school year.
The Child Protection Policies require that all those who are in regular contact with minors must: complete the screening process, including a background check; abide by the Safe Environment Policies, the Policy Relating to Sexual Misconduct, and the Code of Conduct; and complete Safe Environment Training appropriate to their position. If any person is not in compliance with these requirements, they may not work or volunteer with minors. Since the child protection policies have been implemented, 52 people have been excluded from working with minors due to negative results of background checks or failing to comply with training or background check requirements.
The audit is undertaken by outside auditors under the supervision of the independent National Review Board established by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The Safe Environment Program of the Archdiocese was established to implement Articles 12 and 13 of the Charter. Article 12 mandates the establishment of programs to train staff in “ways to make and maintain a safe environment for children and young people”, and to publicize “the standards of conduct for clergy and other persons in positions of trust with regard to children”. Article 13 requires that the Archdiocese evaluate the background of all clergy and of all those whose duties include ongoing, unsupervised contact with minors.
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