ROME — Holy Father, meet my mother.
Capping a whirlwind nine-day trip with a final visit to the Vatican, Timothy Cardinal Dolan introduced his 84-year-old mom to Pope Benedict XVI yesterday — then jokingly asked the pontiff if he could make her “the first lady of the College of Cardinals.”
Amid cheers and applause, Dolan walked his mom, Shirley, up to the stage to greet his boss during a papal audience before an enthusiastic crowd inside the Paul VI Hall.
“Holy Father, here is my mom!” Dolan said he told the pope.
Unable to resist the temptation to make a joke, Dolan, 62, pointed out that he’s one of the few princes of the church young enough and lucky enough to still have his mother alive.
“I asked him if he would declare her the first lady of the College of Cardinals,” he said.
Dolan recounted that the pope, who turns 85 in April, then paid his mom the ultimate compliment, telling her, “You look too young to be the mother of a cardinal.”
The cardinal said his mom — showing that a quick wit is a family trait — shot back, “Holy Father, was that an infallible statement?”
Accompanying Dolan and his mom was Vincenza Mustaciuolo, the 80-year-old mother of Monsignor Gregory Mustaciuolo, who once served as personal secretary and right-hand man to Dolan’s New York predecessors, John Cardinal O’Connor and Edward Cardinal Egan.
Each of the 22 cardinals elevated on Saturday at St. Peter’s Basilica was invited to bring up two guests to meet the pontiff.
Dolan said that picking his own mother was “an easy choice” — but that he settled on Mustaciuolo’s mom, who lives on Staten Island and goes by the nickname “Vinnie,” only following a recent chat with the monsignor.
“I asked if his mother had ever met the pope,” recalled Dolan. “He said, ‘Actually, no. She never has.’ I said, ‘She will on Monday.’ ”
Later in the day, Dolan celebrated his first Mass as cardinal at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, which was built in the year 386 above the saint’s burial site.
Dolan, who flies back to New York this morning, said he’s eager to return to St. Patrick’s Cathedral for Ash Wednesday services tomorrow. He also will visit St. Francis of Assisi Church on West 31st Street to give sandwiches to the poor.