Milwaukee prelate tapped for N.Y. post

The Vatican’s selection of Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan as the next archbishop of New York has gotten plaudits for naming a theologically astute Midwesterner with a common touch to America’s top Catholic post.

“In many ways, his appointment to New York is a no-brainer,” said the Very Rev. David O’Connell, president of Catholic University, from where Archbishop Dolan received his doctorate in 1985.

“He is a proven entity. His perspectives - theological and otherwise - fit in with what Rome expects and wants in the hierarchy. He’s proven himself to be a very good administrator of a diocesan budget; he’s done the fundraising, he relates well to people; the wealthy as well as the poor.

“He has a great love of the priesthood. That probably factored large in the decision. He has a common touch and a great sense of humor, which will fit in with the sophistication of New York.”

The appointment, which had been rumored for weeks, was made official at 6 a.m. EST by the Vatican. Archbishop Dolan sent a notice to his archdiocese early Monday explaining why he would be in New York on Monday.

“It was only recently that I was told of this appointment,” he wrote. “It´s hardly a position one applies for! I was surprised, and still am. I was not asked if I would accept the position. The papal nuncio to the United States, Archbishop Pietro Sambi, gently informed me, ‘The Holy Father has appointed you Archbishop of New York.’ ”

The new archbishop’s first public appearance in New York was at an 8 a.m. Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral where he co-celebrated with Cardinal Edward Egan, who will be 77 on April 2, two years past the official age of retirement for bishops.

Archbishop Dolan, 59, will take over the 2.5-million-member New York archdiocese on April 15, a few days after Easter.

The Rev. Steven Avella, a history professor at Marquette University in Milwaukee, predicted the archbishop “will take them by storm” in the Big Apple.

“He is Falstaff in a mitre: big, with a large girth, red-cheeked - he is about as extroverted a human being as you’ll see in this life,” he said. “He is a people person, a literal back slapper.

“New York is hungry to have someone friendly. His predecessor is more reserved, ethereal. Dolan is everyman.

“He and [civil rights activist] Al Sharpton will be arm-in-arm singing, ‘We shall be overcome.’ He and [New York Mayor Michael] Bloomberg will get along just fine. He’s got the common touch. The people here love him. He’s been very good to us.”

Bill Donohue, president of the New York-based Catholic League, called the appointee “perfect” for New York because of the archbishop’s “erudition, tenacity, affability and orthodoxy necessary for a leadership role.”

Citing a 2007 boycott against Miller Brewing Co. for its sponsorship of the Catholic-bashing Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco, Mr. Donohue said the archbishop “did not hesitate to step up to the plate” in demanding an apology from the Milwaukee-based company.

“He showed leadership from top to bottom,” Mr. Donohue said, “which is why a man of his character is a perfect fit for New York’s rough-and-tumble milieu.”

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