Cardinal Dolan, a guy you'd just like to hang out with
Last year during Lent, I attended my first Living the Catholic Faith Conference in Denver. It was a great experience, I highly recommend it.
One of the highlights was the “performance” of Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York and head of the U.S. bishops. I say performance because this man is not only blessed with faith, intellect and charisma, but the gifts of a stand-up comedian. He knows how to keep an audience engaged with humor, drama and interesting stories.
His talk was titled “The Four Pillars in the Life of Pope John Paul II.” No doubt we all know a thing or two about this beloved pope, after all, he led the Catholic Church for nearly 28 years. But to hear details of his difficult childhood in Poland, his influential visit there 1979, and his gift for converting individual hearts from world leaders to drug-addicted prostitutes, was eye-opening for me. It made me laugh, made me cry, made me think.
John Paul II is said to have changed “Church?” to “Church!” And I believe Archbishop Dolan is one of our Church leaders on course to do the same thing today with his leadership, clarity, and openness.
I’m giving away a a copy of “The Four Pillars in the Life of Pope John Paul II.” To enter, simply leave a comment below. It might be related to John Paul II, or not.
My comment: I do, sort of, remember the day he was installed: our 5th grade class from Holy Name got to watch it on TV at the Sisters of St. Joseph convent across the street from school. Very exciting. Classrooms didn’t have TVs in the 70s, not in Coffeyville anyway.
I’ll draw the winner from all entries next Tuesday, April 3, during Holy Week, in hopes of the CD arriving before Easter.
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Read my 2011 interview with then-Archbishop Dolan here
[it's brief, his schedule allowed 3 minutes!]
Read a recent Newsweek article about Cardinal Dolan here.
I’m a wife, mother of two (8 and 5), and reporter for the Denver Catholic Register newspaper. I love to write and can't believe I get to do it for a living.
Unfortunately, I was not “in-tuned” with my faith when beloved John Paul was pope, so I feel like I missed so much because of my ignorance. I now know what a great, and truly special Pope he was. An amazing man, really. I would LOVE to learn more about him. You know, to make up for lost time. Just say’n!
By: Carol Vanchina on April 2, 2012
at 5:35 pm
I saw John Paul II say Easter mass in 1986 at the Vatican…I was a floundering Catholic at the time and was there more for tradition’s sake than because my heart had truly been converted. Nevertheless, as my heart has been and is being converted on a daily basis, I am thrilled that I received a papal blessing from this incredible man of God all those years ago!
By: Deanne on March 31, 2012
at 12:47 am
Hey Julie!
My older brother was actually blessed to meet Pope John Paul back in the late 80′s on a World Youth Day (yes they had them back then
Love your posts! Have a great weekend.
By: Santhe on March 30, 2012
at 8:02 pm