NOTE: This Friday, October 21, the Weekly Giveaway will feature a brand new copy of A People of Hope which officially comes out on November 1. Be sure to enter for your chance to win an early copy of the book!
On November 16, 2010, the American Catholic Church dramatically changed course. For the first time in history, the standing vice-president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Bishop Gerald Kicanas, was not elevated to the top post. Instead, the bishops elected Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York to head the conference for the next three years, solidifying his role as America’s leading churchman.
The vote was less a knock against Bishop Kicanas and more an affirmation of Archbishop Dolan. Dolan is one of the most compelling Catholic personalities in years and, according to renowned journalist John Allen Jr., he’s on pace to become the most visible, influential Catholic in American history.
Allen himself is no stranger to important figures. He’s covered the Catholic Church for many years and America Magazine calls him “the English-speaking world’s most informed, most insightful and most balanced commentator on the Roman Catholic Church today.”
But Allen and Dolan share a unique bond. Besides being close friends, Allen suggests in his 2009 book, The Future Church, that Dolan, certain to become a cardinal in the near future, is quite possibly the first American who could be a serious candidate to become pope.
With Dolan’s rising influence in mind, Allen has produced a new book titled A People of Hope: Archbishop Timothy Dolan in Conversation with John L. Allen Jr. (Image, hardcover, 256 pages). In the book Allen sits down with Dolan to discuss his background, his views, and how Catholicism can best offer a message of hope to the modern world.
The book follows the same structure as The Ratzinger Report and Light of the World, two book-length interviews with Pope Benedict XVI. It’s essentially a series of conversations on both the present state and future path of Catholicism, from hot-button moral issues like the sexual abuse crisis, abortion, homosexuality, and contraception to ecclesial topics like church authority, dissent, the role of women, and Catholic tribalism.
Although Allen opens with a short sketch of Dolan’s history, A People of Hope is less “about” Dolan and more “with” Dolan. The book’s give-and-take style lets Dolan speak for himself and this is precisely where he shines. His captivating rhetoric is equal parts Lincoln, Kennedy, and Martin Luther King, Jr. and is so electric that you feel he could easily be a politician if he wasn’t a bishop.
Besides his charisma, the book reveals three important elements of Dolan’s personality. The first is what Allen calls “affirmative orthodoxy.” This style of communication emphasizes what Catholicism embraces and affirms—what is says ‘yes’ to—rather than what it opposes and condemns.
Dolan is “affirmative orthodoxy on steroids,” according to Allen. His focus always centers on the good within the Church and why there is ultimately reason for hope.
Another trait that immediately jumps out is Dolan’s congeniality. “Dolan is able to win friends and influence people,” Allen says, “both at the top of the Church and at the grassroots, and even among non-Catholics.” Dolan grew up in Ballwin, Missouri where his dad had a backyard BBQ pit open to everyone in town. These regular gatherings instilled a deep conviction for Dolan that “most of life’s problems can be solved by sitting down with people over a couple of beers and talking things out.” This good ol’ boy, country charm emerges throughout the book. In fact, Dolan’s most common line during the interview is, “that reminds me of a story…”.
A third defining feature is Dolan’s training as a historian. This puts him in rare company since most bishops tend to have more theological or philosophical backgrounds. Yet it also gives him an advantage. Allen notes that “the bishops around the world most often identified as pastoral figures and reconcilers tend to have studied history or biblical studies—perhaps because both disciplines tend to make people more flexible in their judgments and inclined to take the long view, rather than being caught up exclusively in today’s battles.”
This calm, sensitive style is on display, for example, through Dolan’s answers in a chapter cleverly titled “The Pelvic Issues.” I’ve never seen anyone handle the volatile issues of abortion and homosexual marriage with such candor and compassion. As an ideological conservative, faithful to the Church’s teachings, Dolan holds tight to her timeless position on both issues—a firm ‘no’ on each account.
But he adds a louder ‘yes’ to individual people struggling through these moral issues, an example of his “affirmative orthodoxy.”
“When somebody comes to me, as people often do, and says, “I must tell you, I am a homosexual,” or “I am gay,” I say, “Well, thanks for your confidence. Nice to meet you, sit down, you’re welcome here, but as a matter of fact, no you’re not.
You happen to be John Jones, who is a child of God and redeemed by the blood of his only begotten son, destined to spend eternity with him. When God looks at you, he sees a work of art. That’s who you are. You happen to be sexually attracted to men, but that doesn’t define who you are.”
In another story that characterizes Dolan’s warm, congenial personality, he was asked to visit an extremely troubled schoolboy while he was still the Archbishop of Milwaukee:
“When I walked in, there was this little kid, he had to be about nine or ten, and I went up and said, “Nice to meet you. Thanks for letting me come into your classroom and say hello to you. My name’s Archbishop Dolan.” He looked at me and said, “I am the Devil.”
Now, that’s kind of scary. Of course, everybody gasped. I said back to him—I actually can’t remember saying it, but every year when I would go to the fund-raiser someone recounted the story—“Nice to meet you, Devil. It’s good to finally meet you in person, because I’ve known you for a long time. You’ve been bothering me since I was a kid, and I’ve been fighting you for a long time, so it’s nice to put a face with the name.”
That startled the boy, because I didn’t castigate him, or run out, or act repelled. There was a moment of softening there, so that we could chat a little while. I thought about that—there’s a familiarity with sin, with evil, with suffering, that should characterize the life of a priest. We need to say that we are very much at home with those troubled people.”
Throughout A People of Hope, Dolan handles other contentious issues with the same clarity and grace. I finished the book feeling deeply satisfied that God has provided just the right guy to lead the American Church–“Rudy Giuliani, Abraham Lincoln, and Saint Paul all rolled into one,” according to Allen. For a Church in need of bold and faithful leadership, he really is the right person at the right time.
A People of Hope is a must-read book for anyone interested in this important American leader or in the future of the Catholic Church.
NOTE: This Friday, October 21, the Weekly Giveaway will feature a brand new copy of A People of Hope which officially comes out on November 1. Be sure to enter for your chance to win an early copy of the book!