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Speaking about the upcoming papal visit, where he will host Pope Francis in New York and be by his side for the whirlwind 38-hour tour, Cardinal Dolan said all systems are go and that he was staying focused on important spiritual matters while dealing with last-minute logistical details that need attention.
Admitting to “a sense of urgency” about those logistics, the cardinal noted that a team of “extraordinarily competent and devoted people,” led by Msgr. Gregory Mustaciuolo, vicar general and chancellor of the archdiocese, and Al Kelly, chairman of the papal visit, is playing a leading role in making sure those matters stay well in hand.
In an interview last week in his 20th-floor office in the New York Catholic Center in Manhattan, Cardinal Dolan said Catholics should hold Pope Francis in a different regard, especially when he is in their midst, from the rest of the world.
To society at large, the cardinal explained, the pope is seen as a world leader, a political leader and a media personality, all roles that he plays to one degree or another.
Catholics see Pope Francis first “as our Holy Father—he’s a pastor, an apostle, an evangelist.”
“We look forward to welcoming our pastor,” Cardinal Dolan said. “We can’t lose sight of the spiritual.”
The cardinal said he had recently viewed a special program on TeleCare, the television ministry of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, marking Pope Francis’ 100th general audience in St. Peter’s Square. The weekly audience themes, such as Jesus, prayer, love and mercy, the Eucharist, saints and devotion and the Commandments, show the Holy Father to be very much “a teacher” and “a successor of St. Peter,” the cardinal said.
In his meetings and interviews with journalists for mainstream media, the cardinal said, “I try to remind them of that.”
When he is asked whether and how the Holy Father will address topics such as immigration and religious freedom on the upcoming trip, the cardinal’s response is that they will be “sequels and corollaries” to the pontiff’s major message, which he said would be that “we are all children of God, redeemed by his Son, Jesus Christ, and invited to share his life for all eternity.”
When assessing the pope’s message and his motivation, the cardinal advised not to “put the cart before the horse,” emphasizing that the “horse pulling this wagon” is the Holy Father’s “spiritual, moral and religious message.”
“We are raring to go,” Cardinal Dolan said. “Our ears are open and our hearts are ready to receive the seed of God’s Holy Word.”
The eyes of the world will be on Pope Francis during this nine-day trip that begins on Sept. 19 in Cuba, the Communist nation his two immediate predecessors, Pope Benedict XVI and St. Pope John Paul II, both visited in recent decades, and includes stops in Washington, D.C., for the canonization of Blessed Junipero Serra, and in Philadelphia, for the World Meeting of Families, the original reason for the journey. (See schedule on Page 12.)
Perhaps more than any other visit during his two-and-a-half-year pontificate, the Holy Father’s first visit to the United States is being eagerly anticipated for the spectacle and ceremony of such an occasion and the opportunity for so many to be in the company of the Holy Father.
In Washington, the canonization Mass on Sept. 23 will be preceded by a visit to the White House and a visit with President Obama. The next day will see the pope address a joint session of Congress.
In New York, where the pontiff will spend a total of 38 hours, a packed agenda awaits him. “This is a man who wants to utilize every second,” the cardinal said.
“He wants to see, listen to and speak to as many people as possible.”
The schedule, which the pope outlined in large measure, first began to take shape when the Holy Father approached Cardinal Dolan as both were on their way to a morning session of last fall’s Extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the Family at the Vatican. The pontiff asked the cardinal about plans for the upcoming trip, then unofficial, and about what the primary components of the New York leg of the journey should be, noting he had already been invited to address the United Nations as three of his predecessors had.
Pope Francis, the cardinal said, expressed a desire to see St. Patrick’s Cathedral, where he will lead a vespers service for priests and religious men and women Sept. 24, and to celebrate a public Mass, to be offered at Madison Square Garden the following evening. Earlier on Sept. 25, there will be a meeting with interreligious leaders at the 9/11 Memorial as well as a visit to Our Lady Queen of Angels School in East Harlem, where the pontiff will meet with students and principals from inner-city Catholic schools as well as immigrants and refugees who have been assisted by archdiocesan Catholic Charities.
The pope’s suggestions mirrored those that the cardinal said he would have offered him. “They affirmed my perception of the pope as an extraordinarily savvy pastor,” he said.
In the ensuing months, the pope and the cardinal exchanged personal emails about the nature and place of the interreligious meeting, and had correspondence by email about personal requests the pope had received for meetings in New York.
Much of the detailed planning was carried out over the ensuing months with three veteran leaders of the Vatican team that coordinates papal visits: Dr. Alberto Gasparri, papal visit planner; Commander Domenico Giani, papal security chief; and Msgr. Guido Marini, papal master of ceremonies.
Two recent additions to the New York schedule that will go a long way toward bringing Pope Francis closer to the people are the processions on Fifth Avenue before the vespers at St. Patrick’s and the next day in Central Park, where upwards of 100,000 people are expected to be able to get a close-up glimpse of the Holy Father.
The selected venues were able to balance the security concerns of the Secret Service with the pope’s desire to travel in a non-enclosed vehicle for significant stretches. A lottery open to New York state residents was conducted by the City of New York for the Central Park procession.
“Central Park seemed to be so logical,” the cardinal said, likening the route to the loop the pontiff makes in St. Peter’s Square after his Wednesday audiences.
“It’s where New Yorkers go to celebrate, to be renewed and to enjoy nature,” he said. “Now they are going to be able to enjoy a man who speaks of the supernatural.”
Along with being a good host in New York, and tending to myriad housekeeping details in that regard, the cardinal said he hoped to be able to travel to Washington, D.C., for Pope Francis’ meeting with U.S. bishops on Sept. 23 and be present at the closing Mass on Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia on Sept. 27. Still, reserving adequate time to be available to the media in New York will likely preclude his ability to be present for long stretches in the other cities.
“I don’t want to pass up the opportunities of evangelization, to be available to the press, before and after the pope’s departure here,” he said.
As to the prospect of history being made at some point on this visit, as some have suggested, the cardinal did not want to prognosticate other than to say that a papal visit is by its nature a historic event. He said he is not anticipating “any bombshells,” but did note, “He is a pope of surprises, so we can’t rule that out.”
Cardinal Dolan suggested a more likely follow-up to this month’s visit, both from witnessing papal visits through the years as a staff member at the Apostolic Nunciature in Washington, D.C.; rector of the Pontifical North American College in Rome; service as an auxiliary bishop in St. Louis and Archbishop of Milwaukee, including media work on previous papal trips; and since 2009 as Archbishop of New York.
“I’ve heard my brother bishops, especially my beloved predecessor Cardinal Egan, say you begin to see the spiritual effects of a papal visit—you see people return to the sacraments, come back to church, vocations go up a bit.
“There’s also a more positive, upbeat image of the Church,” the cardinal said. “I look forward to that.”
“We need some spiritual adrenaline pumping in the city,” he said.
