Early life The eldest of five children, Timothy Dolan was born on February 6, 1950, in
St. Louis, Missouri, to Robert (1925–1977) and Shirley (née Radcliffe) Dolan (1928–2022). His father was an
aircraft engineer, working as a floor supervisor at
McDonnell Douglas. Dolan has two brothers, one of whom, Bob Dolan, is a former
radio talk-show host, and two sisters. The family later moved to
Ballwin, Missouri, where they attended Holy Infant Parish. Dolan exhibited a strong interest in the
priesthood from an early age, once saying, "I can never remember a time I didn't want to be a priest." He would also pretend to celebrate
Mass as a child. Dolan entered
Saint Louis Preparatory Seminary in Shrewsbury, Missouri, in 1964. He later obtained a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy degree from
Cardinal Glennon College in Shrewsbury. Cardinal
John Carberry then sent Dolan to reside at the Pontifical North American College in Rome while studying there. Dolan earned a
Licentiate of Sacred Theology in 1976 from the
Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome.
Priesthood Dolan was
ordained a priest at Holy Infant Church on June 19, 1976, for the Archdiocese of St. Louis by Auxiliary Bishop
Edward O'Meara. After his 1976 ordination, the archdiocese assigned Dolan as an
associate pastor at Curé of Ars Parish in Shrewsbury and Immacolata Parish in
Richmond Heights. Upon Dolan's return to Missouri in 1983, the archdiocese assigned him to
pastoral work in parishes for the next four years. During this time, he collaborated with Archbishop
John L. May in reforming the
archdiocesan seminary. In 1987, the Vatican appointed Dolan as secretary of the
Apostolic Nunciature in Washington, serving as a liaison with the
American dioceses.
Rector of Pontifical North American College Dolan returned to Rome in 1994 after the USCCB appointed him as rector of the Pontifical North American College. During his tenure in Rome, he published
Priests for the Third Millennium, and taught at the
Pontifical Gregorian University and St. Thomas Aquinas.
Auxiliary Bishop of St. Louis (2009) On June 19, 2001,
Pope St. John Paul II appointed Dolan as an
auxiliary bishop of St. Louis and
titular bishop of
Natchesium. According to radio station
WTAQ news, "An attorney says at least 8,000 kids were sexually abused by over 100 priests and other offenders in the Milwaukee Catholic Diocese." Dolan took a special interest in priests and
vocations, and the number of
seminary enrollments rose during his tenure as archbishop. In an outdoor Mass in September 2002, Dolan briefly wore a "
cheesehead" hat during his homily in tribute to the
Green Bay Packers football team. While in Milwaukee, he wrote
Called to Be Holy (2005) and
To Whom Shall We Go? Lessons from the Apostle Peter (2008), and co-hosted a television program with his brother called
Living Our Faith. Continuing to serve as archbishop in Milwaukee, Dolan's term as administrator ended on July 9, 2008,
Archbishop of New York Appointment as archbishop and installation in New York City On February 23, 2009, Dolan was appointed the tenth archbishop of New York by Benedict XVI. According to Dolan, Apostolic Nuncio
Pietro Sambi notified him by phone of his appointment in New York "nine, ten days" prior to the official announcement. Dolan said that when he was appointed auxiliary bishop of St. Louis and archbishop of Milwaukee, he was told on the phone that John Paul II "would like [him] to" take the posts. In contrast, Sambi told Dolan that "the Pope [Benedict XVI] had appointed [him]" to New York, giving Dolan little choice other than to accept it. Dolan had downplayed such speculation, saying, "Anytime there's kind of a major
see that opens, what have we seen with Washington, Baltimore, Detroit, now New York, my name for some reason comes up. I'm flattered."
John L. Allen Jr., Vatican correspondent for the
National Catholic Reporter, noted that Benedict XVI's appointment of Dolan followed his pattern of choosing prelates "who are basically conservative in both their politics and their theology, but also upbeat, pastoral figures given to dialogue". In an interview with the
Associated Press before his installation, Dolan pledged to challenge claims that the Catholic Church was unenlightened due to its opposition to
same-sex marriage and abortion. Dolan said that he hoped to rebuild confidence among Catholics who were disenchanted with the church after the sexual abuse scandals; he described these scandals as "a continuing source of shame". Dolan was installed as archbishop of New York at
St. Patrick's Cathedral on April 15, 2009. He wore the
pectoral cross used by his 19th-century predecessor, Archbishop
John Hughes. Eleven cardinals and several New York elected officials attended the ceremony. Dolan received the
pallium, a
vestment worn by
metropolitan bishops, from Benedict XVI on June 29, 2009, in a ceremony at
St. Peter's Basilica. Dolan is the Grand Prior of the USA Eastern Lieutenancy of the
Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.
Closing of schools and parishes Soon after his arrival in New York, Dolan oversaw two "strategic planning" processes on the utilization of archdiocesan schools and parishes. "Pathways to Excellence," held from 2009 to 2013, examined the elementary schools. "Making All Things New," from 2010 to 2015, examined the parishes. Like in many other American dioceses, Dolan closed dozens of schools and parishes would close or merge with others in their neighborhoods, due to decades-long trends of shifting populations, increasing expenses, declining attendance, and decreasing clergy. Dolan served as chair of the board of directors of
Catholic Relief Services, in which capacity he visited
Ethiopia and India, until his election as USCCB president. He remains a member of the
Board of Trustees of The Catholic University of America.
Apostolic visitations Dolan was the apostolic visitor to Irish seminaries as part of the
Apostolic visitation to Ireland following the 2009 publication of the Ryan and
Murphy Reports on sexual abuse. Dolan was part of a team that included Cardinal
Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, archbishop emeritus of Westminster; Cardinal
Seán Patrick O'Malley of Boston; Toronto's Archbishop
Thomas Christopher Collins; and Ottawa's Archbishop
Terrence Prendergast. They reported their findings to Pope Benedict XVI in 2012. On January 5, 2011, Dolan was appointed to the newly created
Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization. Also in 2011, at the Vatican's request, Dolan led a visitation (investigation) of the
Pontifical Irish College, the seminary for Irish seminarians and priests studying in Rome. His 2012 report was highly critical of the college. It said that "a disturbingly significant number of seminarians gave a negative assessment of the atmosphere of the house". The report said that the staff were "critical about any emphasis on Rome, tradition, the magisterium, piety or assertive orthodoxy, while the students are enthusiastic about these features". It also said: "The apostolic visitor noted, and heard from students, an 'anti-ecclesial bias' in theological formation. The four Irish archbishops (Cardinal
Seán Brady, Archbishop
Diarmuid Martin; Archbishop
Michael Neary; and Archbishop
Dermot Clifford) responded to the report, saying that "a deep prejudice appears to have coloured the visitation and from the outset it led to the hostile tone and content of the report". On April 21, 2011, he was appointed a member of the
Congregation for the Oriental Churches. On January 24, 2012, Dolan went on a religious pilgrimage to
Israel and the
West Bank, where he met the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem,
Fouad Twal. On November 30, 2013, Pope Francis named Dolan a member of the
Congregation for Catholic Education. On September 3, 2014, Dolan denied requests by the
Diocese of Peoria to receive the remains of Archbishop
Fulton Sheen, who had been entombed in St. Patrick's Cathedral since his death in 1979. The diocese sued the archdiocese, claiming that it owned the rights to remains. On November 17, 2016, Judge Arlene Bluth of the
New York State Supreme Court ordered the archdiocese to transfer the remains to Peoria. On September 13, 2014, Dolan was appointed a member of the
Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. Dolan completed a pilgrimage to the
Sanctuary of Our Lady of Knock in Knock Ireland, in 2015. On May 13, 2017, he celebrated a
requiem Mass when John Curry, the youngest witness to the Knock apparition, was re-interred in
St. Patrick's Old Cathedral cemetery in
Lower Manhattan after being disinterred from an unmarked grave on
Long Island. At the
inauguration of US President Donald Trump on January 20, 2017, Dolan delivered the first
benediction. His invocation included a recitation of
King Solomon's prayer from the
Book of Wisdom. In August 2020 he offered the opening prayer at session of the
2020 Republican National Convention. In February 2023, Dolan announced that the archdiocese was closing 12 schools that had not recovered financially from the
COVID-19 pandemic. On April 13, 2024, during a visit to
Jerusalem, Dolan and his entourage were forced to take cover due to an Iranian missile attack on the city. The attack was a response to an April 1 Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in
Damascus, Syria. No one in Dolan's group was injured. Dolan on October 1, 2024, announced that the archdiocese was suing its insurers,
Chubb Group, for its alleged failure to pay insurance claims related to the sexual abuse scandal.
USCCB Within the USCCB, Dolan chairs the Priestly Life and Ministry Committee and sits on the Subcommittee on the Church in Africa. In November 2007, he lost the election for USCCB
vice president, being defeated by Bishop
Gerald Kicanas by a margin of 22 votes. Dolan was elected on November 16, 2010, to the USCCB presidency, becoming the first New York prelate to hold this post. Dolan replaced Cardinal
Francis George, who did not run for re-election. In a vote of 128 to 111, Dolan defeated Kicanas and eight other candidates to win the three-year term. Dolan took office two days later and served as president until November 12, 2013.
Cardinal Dolan was elevated to the rank of cardinal by Benedict XVI on February 18, 2012. The day before the
consistory, Dolan addressed the pope and the
College of Cardinals on spreading the faith in a secularized world. He was created
Cardinal Priest of the
Nostra Signora di Guadalupe a Monte Mario church in Rome. Dolan was the first archbishop of New York since 1946 not to receive the
titular church of
Santi Giovanni e Paolo, as that title was still being held by his predecessor, Cardinal Egan. After Benedict XVI announced his retirement as pope due to ill health, effective February 28, 2013, the press suggested Dolan as a
papabile, a possible successor to Benedict. In February 2025, Dolan submitted his resignation to Pope Francis, as is required for every bishop on his 75th birthday. Pope Francis died before accepting his resignation. In May 2025, Dolan participated in the papal conclave convened after the death of Pope Francis. According to multiple Italian news outlets, Dolan played a significant behind-the-scenes role, acting as a consensus-builder among American and Latin American cardinals. According to several reports, Cardinal Dolan acted as a kingmaker in the
2025 papal conclave, gathering strong support for
Robert Francis Prevost, who was eventually elected pope as
Leo XIV. Analysts noted that Dolan used his influence to steer votes away from front-runner Cardinal
Pietro Parolin, rallying support for Prevost during pre-conclave discussions. Pope Leo XIV accepted Dolan's resignation on December 18, 2025, and appointed
Ronald Hicks as his successor. Dolan called Hicks' appointment "an early Christmas gift" and spoke highly of his successor at a joint press conference. Dolan acted as the
apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of New York from that date until February 6, 2026, when Hicks was installed as archbishop of New York. Leading up to and after the announcement of his resignation being accepted, Dolan stated in multiple interviews that he would remain in New York and "always keep working". In March 2026, Cardinal Dolan was named co-chief Chaplain of the NYPD along with the Reverend
A. R. Bernard. ==Views==