“Dad29” reports that Archbishop Timothy Dolan of Milwaukee has begun to be a much more visible Catholic leader in his archdiocese, countering the ill effects of his predecessor, Archbishop Rembert Weakland.
The Archbishop has girded his loins, put on the armor of Christ, and has charged—right into the studios of WISN-1130 radio, WTMJ-620 radio (twice!!) and, (in a flanking action), into the affairs of Marquette University, directly and indirectly pointing out that Dan (the Cancer) Maguire is simply a heretic.
The Archbishop has made several highly-visible trips to the Shrine/Basilica at Holy Hill and to the Schoenstatt Center—both places virtually ignored (to one degree or another) by his predecessor; and obtained television coverage of his public Stations of the Cross leadership at Holy Hill.
In addition, the archbishop has reached out to Catholic parents unhappy with the state of diocesan parochial schools as well as to the Tridentine Mass community, all as part of his “Come Home” outreach to fallen away Catholics, through which he hopes to increase Mass attendance by 20 percent.
Archbishop Dolan’s been in Milwaukee for a few years and it didn’t look like there was much going on. But then Weakland had decades in which to shape the archdiocese in his image. Maybe it’s not surprising that Dolan needed a few years to get settled before he could really unleash himself, especially when you have a lot of priests and diocesan employees who retain sympathy for the previous occupant.
The good people in Milwaukee should enjoy him while they can. The hot rumor is that Abp. Dolan is going to be shipped to New York to succeed Cardinal Egan. The Cardinal turned 75 on 2 April, so he had to send in his resignation. Now when “Benny” decides to accept it is another question.
PMcGrath…we will be more than happy to send Archbishop Dolan to New York. Here in Milwaukee we have yet to see anything that tells us that “Dolan is on the move.”