New York’s new cardinal has higher aspirations — and he’s not talking about being pope.
At his first Sunday Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral as a newly crowned prince of the church, Timothy Cardinal Dolan yesterday urged Catholics everywhere to join him in trying to reach the church’s highest calling: sainthood.
Dolan said his ambition was affirmed during his recent visit to Rome, when he joined other cardinals in a vote to ratify seven candidates, including two New Yorkers, as saints.
“Here’s what taught me the lesson as I performed that act,” Dolan recalled. “I said to myself, ‘Dolan, this isn’t about the red hat. This isn’t about being a cardinal. This is about being a saint. I just ratified candidates for canonization — that’s what I want to be.’ I want to be a saint. I got a long way to go, all right.
“I want to be a saint, and I want to bring as many people to sainthood with me, to citizenship in heaven.”
It’s likely that no one in New York has been more impressed with Dolan than 10-year-old Staten Island altar boy Chris Sweeney.
After meeting Chris at St. Patrick’s on Ash Wednesday, Dolan called the boy’s cancer-stricken father, Rocky, and prayed with him on the phone.
Yesterday, Chris received a standing ovation and pats on the back from members of his own parish, the Holy Family Church, on Staten Island.
Displayed in the church’s lobby is a framed New York Post photo of the boy meeting Dolan.
“Chris has been on a cloud all week,” said the boy’s mom, Lisa.