(RNS) — At the 2016 Al Smith Dinner, an annual fundraiser for the Archdiocese of New York that traditionally invites the presidential candidates in national election years, Cardinal Dolan sat between then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and GOP nominee Donald Trump. He famously described his seat as “the iciest place on the planet.”
It is a seat many cardinal-archbishops of New York had inhabited before him. The Catholic leader of New York has to work with (virtually) everyone for the good of the church, the city and the broader world. His polestar is to witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, a vision that obviously cannot be made to fit within a secular liberal-conservative binary.
In assessing Dolan after Pope Leo XIV accepted his retirement, however, many commentators have tried to fit Dolan neatly into that binary. The Washington Post called him a “prominent conservative” who has been supportive of President Trump. Axios called him not only a friend of Trump, but put him firmly in the camp of “culture war conservatism.” Reuters claimed Dolan was a “leading conservative,” while insisting that Leo’s decision to appoint Bishop Ronald Hicks to replace Dolan in New York is a “shake-up.”
It is true that Dolan has worked closely with Trump on several matters, including trying to get aid for New York Catholic schools during the pandemic. He has also tried to get things done by working with other figures across the political spectrum.
After Texas Gov. Greg Abbott bused migrants to New York and other cities to call attention to the impact of the migrant crisis on his state, Dolan and New York’s Catholic Charities leaders provided the newcomers with food, clothing, legal aid, school enrollment and scholarships. In speaking about his meetings with some of the asylum-seekers, Dolan said his job was to see them “with the eyes of Jesus.”
Dolan worked closely with progressives in New York City in collaborations to provide affordable housing. Beyond these issues, Cardinal Dolan worked with leftists in his city on everything from homelessness and shelters to re-entry for people getting out of incarceration and much more.
Trump also may have been wondering about his friendship with Dolan after the cardinal took to the pages of The Washington Post with an op-ed titled, “Why Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric is so problematic,” criticizing Trump’s family separation policy and his ending of DACA, as well as the president’s silly AI-generated images of the pope. Dolan was not afraid to train his fire on Trump and his administration.
Did Dolan take positions on matters that would be labeled “conservative” in our political binary? Absolutely. No one is more strongly pro-life, particularly when it came to protecting prenatal children. No one valued marriage between one man and one woman more highly than the cardinal does. Dolan was a stalwart and winsome defender of church orthodoxy.
But this orthodoxy can’t be coherently described as conservative. Even on abortion, after New York passed the Reproductive Health Act, effectively negating all limits on killing prenatal children in the state, Dolan responded by going to the microphones with the Sisters of Life, a Catholic religious women’s community, and speaking directly to women who may face a difficult pregnancy, letting them know that the Catholic Church will be there to support them.
One of Dolan’s favorite saints was Dorothy Day, whom he would invoke very often and who very obviously couldn’t be made to fit into a liberal or conservative box. Very traditional on issues of life and marriage and sexuality, Day was a radical pacifist who lived close to the poor and homeless and had massive critiques of the injustices wrought by U.S. markets.
In the pages of a New York Times piece titled, “Dolan Champions Sainthood for Dorothy Day, Hero of Catholic Left,” the cardinal called her a “saint for our time” and praised Day for showing “what’s best in Catholic life, that ability we have to be ‘both-and’ not ‘either-or.’”
Especially when it comes to ideology and politics.
Hicks, Dolan’s successor, will likely have much in common with Dolan in this regard. Hick’s stance on immigration has been portrayed as being seriously at odds with the Trump administration’s, but this hardly makes Dolan and Hicks antagonists. They strongly agree on abortion, too. When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, Hicks did not hold back. “Today’s decision is an answer to decades of prayer and upholds the protection of the most innocent of all human life — the child in the mother’s womb — which has long been a tenet of Catholic social teaching,” he wrote.
It should not surprise anyone that Dolan and Hicks hold so many views in common. They are both Catholic bishops — guardians and proclaimers of the deposit of faith. But there is another good reason for their agreement: According to Italian media reports, Dolan is one of the strongest supporters of the person who put Hicks in line to succeed Dolan, Pope Leo XIV. Indeed, some have said Dolan was the “kingmaker” who led to Leo’s election as the first U.S.-born pope. Leo, whose ideological vision for New York is not red, but rather a bright purple or magenta, appointed someone who will continue to advocate for that vision.
Thank you, Cardinal Dolan, for your wonderful witness to the fullness of the gospel during your time in New York and in Milwaukee and other places that have been fortunate enough to benefit from your pastoral care. I wish you good rest from your many labors. You certainly have earned it.
