Cardinal Timothy Michael Dolan, the current Archbishop of New York, is a former president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops known for his charismatic media personality and conservative values.

Born on February 6, 1950, and the eldest of five children, his journey in the Catholic Church began at a young age when he entered Saint Louis Preparatory Seminary in 1964.

He earned a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from Cardinal Glennon College in Shrewsbury, Missouri, and later obtained a Licentiate of Sacred Theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. He also holds a doctorate in American Church History from the Catholic University of America.

Timothy Dolan was ordained a priest in 1976, completed doctoral studies (on the late Archbishop Edwin O’Hara, a founder of the Catholic Biblical Association) at the Catholic University of America and returned to Missouri to complete pastoral work from 1983 to 1987.

Dolan’s ecclesial career has been marked by several significant appointments. After his ordination in 1976, he served as an associate pastor in Richmond Heights, Missouri. He then held positions as secretary of the Apostolic Nunciature in Washington, D.C., and vice-rector of Kenrick-Glennon Seminary.

From 1994 to 2001, Dolan served as rector of the Pontifical North American College (PNAC) in Rome, where he also taught at the Pontifical Gregorian University and the Angelicum. John Paul II gave him the title Monsignor in 1994 while he served at the PNAC where, by all accounts, Dolan was a popular rector. In 2001, he was appointed auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of St. Louis by Pope John Paul II. On being appointed bishop, he took the episcopal motto St. Peter’s profession of faith: Ad Quem Ibimus, “Lord To Whom Shall We Go?” (Jn 6:68).

Dolan’s rise in the Church hierarchy continued with his appointment as Archbishop of Milwaukee in 2002, where he faced the challenge of rebuilding trust after a series of scandals. The diocese had thousands of abuse cases and it later emerged that he oversaw payments of up to $20,000 to “more than a handful” of accused priests so they did not contest laicization. The idea was to speed up processes and incur less cost. Dolan also took a special interest in vocations in Milwaukee and the number of seminary enrolments rose during his tenure.

In 2009, he was named Archbishop of New York, one of the most prominent positions in the American Catholic Church with a flock of 2.5 million Catholics.

Soon after arriving in New York, Dolan undertook a reorganization of schools in the archdiocese but also announced that dozens of under-utilized schools and parishes would close or merge due to demographic changes, higher costs, declining attendance, and a fall in vocations. This drew some strong opposition with some accusations that the process was carried out in secrecy and that it caused confusion. In rare cases, appeals to the Vatican were successful in overturning closure decrees.

From 2010 to 2013, Dolan served as president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. In 2012, he was elevated to the rank of cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI, participating in the conclave that elected Pope Francis in 2013.

Dolan has also served as chairman of Catholic Relief Services, is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Catholic University of America, and in 2009 was the apostolic visitor to Irish seminaries as part of the apostolic visitation to Ireland that took place in light of the sexual abuse crisis there. His report on the Pontifical Irish College in Rome led to radical personnel changes to the institution.

The cardinal, who is generally seen as orthodox and conservative, has been a relative moderate as archbishop of New York and often likes to teach the faith in a folksy, down-to-earth way and making use of social media to do so. The cardinal is regularly asked to appear on prime-time American television shows to discuss the faith.

Known for his jovial nature and self-deprecating humor, this has made him well-liked among his peers. However, this same characteristic has led some to question whether he has the gravitas required for higher positions in the Church. And although his ecclesiastical career has had a string of high-ranking achievements, he has also become embroiled in some controversies that have attracted headlines.

These have included his refusal in 2014 to allow the diocese of Peoria to receive the remains of Archbishop Fulton Sheen whose body is entombed in St. Patrick’s Cathedral. In 2018, he said he “didn’t see anything really sacrilegious” about that year’s Met Gala in New York which was widely criticized for disrespecting Catholicism, and joked that he had lent a bejeweled mitre to the singer Rihanna.

Dolan also attracted controversy when he congratulated a homosexual footballer for disclosing his orientation, telling him “Bravo,” “God bless ya,” and “good for him.” He said the Bible teaches against judging people.¹“I would have no sense of judgment on him,” Dolan said. “God bless ya. I don’t think, look, the same Bible that tells us, that teaches us well about the virtues of chastity and the virtue of fidelity and marriage also tells us not to judge people. So I would say, ‘Bravo.’”

In 2015, he also drew headlines when he agreed to be grand marshal of that year’s St. Patrick’s Day parade in New York when homosexual groups were allowed to take part for the first time.

Dolan will, however, often defend the Church’s teaching and especially moral issues concerning life. In 2009 he signed an ecumenical declaration urging non-compliance with rules and laws permitting abortion, same-sex “marriage” and other matters that go against their religious consciences.

Politically, he has also been praised for taking stands in defense of the Church and the Church’s teaching, for example during a controversy over funding of contraceptives and abortion under the Obama administration.

He has further been willing to defend the Church’s teaching from within the Church: In 2015, along with 12 other cardinals, he signed an open letter to Pope Francis critical of the Synod on the Family and that it could lead to the Church falling apart in the same way as liberal Protestant denominations.

During the Covid crisis, Dolan argued for the closure of churches if they experienced a rise in cases or protocols weren’t being properly followed. However, he did allow churches to stay open in some cases so that the faithful could visit them to pray. He also oversaw a ruling that priests of the archdiocese were not to issue a religious exemption to the Covid vaccines.

In 2024, Cardinal Dolan directed his cathedral (St. Patrick’s in Midtown Manhattan) to offer a Mass of Reparation following the controversial funeral service for a transgender activist called Cecilia Gentili. Dolan defended the priests at the cathedral, stating that they “knew nothing about this that was coming up” regarding the background of the deceased.²“We don’t do FBI checks on people who want to be buried,” he said. He praised the cathedral’s officiants for curtailing the funeral when they realized the nature of the gathering. However, the cardinal was criticized for his response, with some feeling that he was dismissive of faithful Catholics’ concerns.³LGBTQ+ groups and activists also demanded an apology from the archdiocese for what they perceived as discriminatory language and actions during and after the funeral.

The cardinal is said to be popular with his clergy but under his watch, the number of priests in the archdiocese of New York has fallen from 1,783 in 2009 to 1,224 in 2021. Over the same period, the numbers of male religious have dropped from 1,340 to 855, and female religious from 2,840 to 1908.

Despite his general popularity, Dolan’s chances of becoming pope have been considered slim, partly due to the concern that an American pope might upset the global balance of power.  Nonetheless, his tenure as Archbishop of New York and his role in addressing various challenges facing the Church have solidified his position as a significant and popular figure in American Catholicism.

Cardinal Dolan speaks English, Italian and some Spanish.