Metro

Cathedral opens doors for all

Thanks, New York! And, Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

For the Catholic family of greater New York, March 17 is not just a day for wit, laughter, reunions, songs, dance and parades, but the feast day of our patron saint.

Because immigrants from Ireland have always made up a large chunk of our Catholic community, it’s no surprise that the Emerald Isle’s patron saint would be ours as well.

That’s why our splendid cathedral is named after him.

So, March 17 is a grand day to celebrate one of the world’s most renowned houses of worship, “America’s parish church,” the gem of Manhattan and Fifth Avenue, the temple we’re proud to call our cathedral.

St. Patrick’s belongs to us all. A very prominent Jewish leader told me how his mom and dad would walk down Fifth Avenue every Saturday morning after synagogue back in the early 1930s. As they’d approach 50th, his folks would say, “Look what the Catholics built; but we’re welcome there, too,” and they’d go in for a visit. (By the way, this extraordinarily generous man then gave me $5 million to help with current repair and restoration of St. Patrick’s, one of many non-Catholics who are supporting our project.)

Then there’s the story told me by a clergyman from Christ Methodist Church of Park Avenue. Seems as if a potential donor arrived at Penn Station and asked a cabby to take him to Christ Church. Guess where the cabbie took him? To St. Patrick’s! “Driver,” says the passenger, “I told you to take me to Christ Church, not St. Patrick’s.” “Listen, Buster,” replies the driver, “I don’t know nothin’ about religion. All I know is that, here in New York, this is where Christ lives!” Thank you, sir!

The Irish consulate at 51st and Lexington is hosting an intriguing exhibition on the cathedral. There you’ll find a tattered postcard of St. Patrick’s Cathedral dated 1881, from a newly arrived refugee from Ireland, to his worried mom back home. Speaking of St. Patrick’s, the postcard simply records, “Dear mom, don’t worry, this is where we all go . . .”

Yes, this is where we New Yorkers go. It’s no exaggeration to agree with the century-old description of St. Patrick’s as “the soul of the city.” This is still where the Irish . . . and the Italians, Poles, Haitians, Africans, Latinos, Asians, Jews, Muslims and Christians still go, for a moment of prayer, a tear shed, a smile of gratitude offered up, a candle lit, an apology to the Lord made, a new start resolved, a struggling family member lifted up, a lost one mourned.

Now, our Cathedral needs us. She’s worn and broken, tarnished and showing her age.

We can’t let her down, because she’s sure not let us down.

Thanks, good people who have helped her! Please, neighbors, give her a hand.

A blessed St. Patrick’s Day!

Timothy Cardinal Dolan is the archbishop of New York.