Surprising and Historic Vote: Archbishop Timothy Dolan Elected as President of United States Bishops Conference

By Deacon Keith Fournier
11/17/2010
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

His election broke with past custom and is clearly a surprise of the Spirit!

Most pundits and ecclesial commentators strongly predicted Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tucson would be elected to succed Cardinal George on Tuesday, November 16, 2010. In response to what they considered a foregone conclusion, a portion of the Catholic blogosphere was preparing to respond with anything but glowing acclamation.Then, a surprise of the Holy Spirit occurred, demonstrating, once again, who is really in charge of His Church.The gregarious, dynamic, orthodox and beloved Archbishop of New York, Timothy Dolan, was elected to lead the Bishops of the U.S.

Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York

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BALTIMORE., MD. (Catholic Online) - In a surprising and historic turn of events, the Bishops of the United States, gathered in Baltimore, Maryland for their annual meeting, broke with the "custom" of the past, of electing the seated Vice president to succeed Francis Cardinal George whose term has expired.

Most pundits and ecclesial commentators strongly predicted Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tucson would be elected to succeed Cardinal George on Tuesday, November 16, 2010. In response to what they considered a foregone conclusion, a portion of the Catholic blogosphere was preparing to respond with anything but glowing acclamation.

Then, a surprise of the Holy Spirit occurred, demonstrating, once again, who is really in charge of His Church. At 9:40 A.M. the names of the nominees were placed on the screen and an explanation followed; if a majority is attained on the first ballot, then the election is over. If not, then there would be a second ballot. Such a situation is, according to some observers, almost unprecedented.

That was until Wednesday November 16, 2010. We seem to be living in a very "unpredictable" time, on so many fronts. On the first ballot, Bishop Kicanis failed to win a majority. Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York surprised many with a very strong showing.

On the second ballot, Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York won, but there was a need for a run off in order to meet the necessary majority. When the excitement subsided, the results were both unexpected and simply amazing; the gregarious, dynamic, orthodox and beloved Archbishop of New York, Timothy Dolan, was elected to the Presidency of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops by 128 - 111 votes or 54 - 46%

Archbishop Timothy Dolan loves the Lord and the Church with an infectious enthusiasm borne of a sincere, living faith. Anyone who has been around him for any period of time experiences the obvious, he is filled with the joy of the Lord. He is also an evangelizer, to the bone. He has quickly become a significant personality on the Catholic Channel of the Sirius Radio Network. He is a man comfortable in his own skin, at ease with the use of the media, filled with the Holy Spirit, and eager to share the Gospel, as it is found in its fullness within the Catholic Church.

This dynamic Bishop began his challenging assignment of leading the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in June of 2002 by proclaiming those wonderful words of the late Venerable John Paul II, the words of the Angel to Our Lady, "Be Not Afraid" when he addressed the faithful. Any observer of the work of Bishops must attest that given the state of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee when he was appointed, Archbishop Dolan demonstrated his full palate of gifts and pastored with the heart of a true shepherd.

Wherever he serves, he is dearly loved by his priests and deacons. That is because he has a pastor's heart and knows the importance of a Bishop's relationship with his clergy. He is also a dynamic and inspiring communicator and solid teacher of the truths as taught by the Magisterium of the Church.Finally, he is a true leader, naturally and supernaturally.

His pastoral and communications gifts - and full compliment of leadership skills - were applied immediately upon his appointment to the Archdiocese of New York, the second largest local Church in the United States. He leads the Archdiocese of New York - which the Holy See is purported to consider the "Capital of the World" - with a pastors heart, a teachers wisdom, and a courageous and faithful Bishops dedication to defending the fullness of truth found within the full communion of the Catholic Church.

This kind, evangelistic, joyful, "John Paul II" Bishop took the leadership of "Gotham City" and has done a tremendous job. He has been willing to fight the enemies of the Church, but he seems to have velvet gloves! He confounds his opponents with Truth and wins them with the Love of God, making them friends.

At this critical time in the history of the Catholic Church in the United States, Archbishop Dolan's election to the office of President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is not only an historic turn of events, it is a sign of the Lord's continued guidance of the Church in the United States. The Catholic Church and the message of authentic freedom which she proclaims is the only hope for this age and every age.

The United States of America has become mission territory. The Church in the United States is in need of the "New Evangelization." Archbishop Timothy Dolan is a wonderful instrument of this New Evangelization, a trumpet in the hands of the Lord. He will proclaim in clarity, power and hope, those words which the Angel proclaimed to Mary and which are so identified with the late and beloved Venerable John Paul II, "Be Not Afraid".

Truly, God has not forgotten His people in the Church in the United States.This is a day for rejoicing!

- - -

Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: Archbishop Dolan, USCCB, US Catholic Bishops, Conference, President of the USCCB, Timothy Dolan

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1 - 10 of 30 Comments

Janice Crowe
1 year ago
So grateful to post a message. I worry about the 75% of the lay catholics who no longer attend Mass. I wonder what practical things we could do to turn this around. I wish our leadership could teach relationship and community. We as Catholics tend to be independent, isolationists and indifferent toward our fellow Catholics. It just seems to me we lay Catholics don't have a consciense on doing practical acts or have any type of encouraging or enthustiastic attitude toward each other. It blows me away and I ask God why? All I know is: human beings will not hang around human beings to don't speak to them or even try to relate to them. I wouldn't bowl with a group that didn't speak to me, why would I want to worship with people who don't greet me warmly. This attitude has to change and I know our leadership could help turn this around. . 75% is a huge number of people
John
2 years ago
We must now pray for him and the souls who need to listen to him. Especially those who are still in the church to try to change it, instead of allowing it to change them. We all need renewal everyday. Some know this and some don't. They have become blind and need our prayers. May God bless Cardinal Dolan with the extra special graces he will obviously need at this point of history in the American Church. May God have pity on us having been so slow to stand up against susch serious evil as the torture and murder of innocent babies. We need to back Cardinal Dolan and actually be extremely supportive in active ways right now. May God richly bless him.
Mary Lou
2 years ago
Maybe ,now we can have as an example, Bishop Dolan , to have the pastors teach from the pulpit teachings of the church and not what is politically correct..and what they think the parishtioners want to hear. May God continue Bishiop Dolan. pul
PhilipEdmund
2 years ago
Pope Dolan!
Chris
2 years ago
Please do not look to the USCCB for leadership. That is NOT their job. They are not the Magesterium. Do not give power that they are not supposed to have. Look to the Pope, and then your own Diocese Bishop. When in doubt about Faith and Morals - Scripture and the "CCC 2nd Ed". According to Pope Benedict XVI - " those national conferences can never substitute for an individual bishop's authority and duty to guide his people ".
Mary Webb
2 years ago
I love Archbishop Timothy Dolan. He is truly a Shepherd of the flock.. Just looking at him makes me want to smile. I'm a former New Yorker living in Florida but my heart goes out to him. He will do a wonderful job. "Bring it on." Yours in Christ, Mary Webb
vance
2 years ago
I don't know much about Archbishop Dolan. I hope his leadership will bring a spiritual renewal to our church and our country. We need something very different and better from the status quo.
ninov
2 years ago
Diane, We are doing a family consecration that I would describe as....All for the sacred and eucharistic heart of Jesus, all through the sorrowful and immaculate heart of Mary, all in union with St. Joseph. This is a 40 day family consecration put together by the folks at Catholic Family Land. We have been there now for 2 years in a row. It is very heavy on JP2 readings and St. Louse de Montfort each night, then goes into some teaching of the church and is followed by the family rosary (partial indulgence) which we have been doing for about 2 years anyway. This will be our 3rd consecration in 2010. We did one just to Mary for our house, another to Christ the King as the head of our family, now this one as a family consecration. I have to tell you, I'm 40, been hard at church teaching for 5 years now, really on fire, spent at least 20 hours a week reading, listening and watching, am working on a masters in Theology and Christian Ministry from Franciscan and St. Louis has really stretched me. I had no idea Mary had so much deep theology. The protestants would crawl out of their skin reading some of this. And what is funny, is, it was written before most of their worship houses were even founded! His writings about how Mary's womb formed Jesus and that her womb must form us, truly amazing imagery. Unfortunatly, I'm not one to be formed and molded, God uses the hammer and chisel on me! That's okay, I have 4 boys under 11 so I have to make sure I'm raising them well in the Church. I tell them all the time, find out what the general has to say and do that. Just like Mary says in the first Luminous mystery...the wedding feast at Cana....do what He tells you......We have a great gift of the chair of Peter and I'm using it for all it's worth to build my ladder to heaven for my family one Church rung at a time! To whom else shall I go.
Diane
2 years ago
Congratulations to Archbishop Dolan, a great choice. To Ninov: you wrote you were reading DeMontforts work on Mary, great. Fortunate you. I made the DeMontfort consecration "To Jesus through Mary" 20 years ago and it was one of the most blessed things that ever happened to me. You've got the right attidudes already, trust and obedience. Obedience can get you everywhere. His writings are very deep. Don't be discouraged. Mary and the Holy Spirit will take over, and through the years you will understand more and more and bless the day that God and Mary called you to that Cosecration. A great help also would be to read St. Teresa of Avila's book " The Interior Castle" while reading DeMontfort.
ninov
2 years ago
Phil, in this time the Church SHOULD and DOES have a right to be invovled in politics. This country is off the rails on almost every issue, abortion, same sex marriage, social security=slavery and violence against personal freedom. Given just these issues and the confusion created by priests and bishops either not speaking out or speaking the wrong direction, we must, as the Church, speak up. It's time to be political. That doesn't mean vote for a party, but it means vote on issues. You will NEVER see a sign in my yard for a person, but you will see signs in my yard for ISSUES and those issues are directed and governed by my Church. I"m first a subject of the Kingdom, then a citizen of the US. Never, with the US trump my subject status in the Kingdom. No way. Additionally, I think folks should pay attention to who didn't get elected. Archbishop Chaput, who many consider ultra-conservative, orthodoxed and outspoken, almost got the VP spot. THAT"S HUGE! A few years ago, he was a no body and some, even today, say he's too far right. Well, they are correct, he is too far right, he's exactly right on the issues. Politicians need to be rejected from communion when Sunday they receive, and Monday, stand in front of a mike and support the killing of the unborn. That is scandolous and given the fact that most Catholics pay less than close attention to what is going on, they see the Sunday Monday exposure and think, oh, abortion must not be that big of a deal. HA. It is THE deal and it's lost on them. As I understand it, the USCCB has no cannonical authority over anything. I answer to my Bishop and then to the Pope. I appreciate having a local organization who helps to put focus on some US issues, but creating a big, blotted organization, that appears to have problems with orthodoxy and handling money and business just adds to the insult. Additionally, any church hiring a person who doesn't subscribe to the CCC is insane. Why do you think we have problems with organizations who give to other organizations that appear to have affiliations with activities against our teaching. Fidelity and absolute obedience to the CCC solve all problems. Just follow the general. He has the keys to the Kingdom. I use to fight and argue all the time and then when I start to follow, life became much easier. Even now when I run into a teaching that I find difficult, like I am now going through St. Louis de Montfort about Mary, I know it's true, and I'm the one who has to conform, not fight. God bless and follow the general....!

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