Archbishop of New York Timothy Dolan expressed deep gratitude that Pope Leo XIV will now lead the Catholic Church for the foreseeable future complementing his leadership qualities and his ability to navigate the bureaucracy within the Church.
Writing an exclusive editorial column for the New York Post on Saturday, Dolan voiced optimism that Pope Leo will be the ideal choice to build bridges across the various faiths and address the church's most urgent need — which is the lack of young people entering the priesthood.
On Thursday, the cardinal electors of the Catholic Church elected Chicago native Robert Francis Prevost, 69, as the first American-born Pope to lead the world's 1.4 billion Catholics. Prevost chose Leo XIV as his papal name. "Sede Vacante, the time known as 'the empty chair' was over. The Church once again had a 'papa,' a Holy Father. And we, along with the rest of the world, rejoiced," Dolan wrote.
Although they are both American, Dolan confessed that when asked his opinion of Pope Leo by other cardinals he had to admit that he didn't really know him. "I had to reply that, in all honesty, I did not know him. I knew of him, of course, and what I had heard had impressed me greatly. A somewhat shy individual; a good listener; someone who spoke several languages; a priest with broad experience in Latin America; a former leader of his religious order; and, finally, someone who had spent the last few years in Rome, familiar with the workings of the bureaucracy that is the Roman Curia," Dolan said.
Dolan shared that he was able to have breakfast with then Cardinal Prevost the morning before he was elected Pope and found him "open and engaging." Ultimately Dolan expects that observers will find elements of past Popes in Leo and that he will be a "universal pastor" for all.
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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