Archbishop Dolan speaks to the congregation during the ordination of 10 men to the diaconate in 2007. (Catholic Herald photo by Sam Lucero)

Aug. 28 marks the fifth anniversary of the installation of Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan as the 10th archbishop of Milwaukee. Last month he sat down with your Catholic Herald and talked about those five years.

ST. FRANCIS — At 52, Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan was the youngest archbishop in the country when his appointment to be the 10th archbishop of Milwaukee was announced June 25, 2002. He had been an auxiliary bishop in St. Louis six days longer than a year. He is one of only four active archbishops serving in the U.S. to go from being an auxiliary bishop to being an archbishop without having served as a diocesan bishop. When he expressed his trepidation to his mother about the appointment, she responded with a mix of motherly and ecclesiastical wisdom.
“She said, ‘Well, that’s not really any of your concern. The pope must like what he sees. He appointed you, so just be yourself. Whatever you’ve been up to until now must have convinced people you’ll be good in this job so just keep doing it,’” he recalled.
Learning job, territory
That reassurance, and the reassurance of many others, came with him when he was installed as the leader of the country’s 19th largest archdiocese. So, too, did the realization that he would be learning the job as he learned about the church he would be shepherding.
“I had to learn about how to be a diocesan bishop. What I wish I would have known was how to be a better manager and executive. But I am quick to say that is not the definition of being a bishop. A bishop is a pastor. A bishop is a teacher. A bishop is a servant. A bishop is a sanctifier,” he said.
When it comes to administration and management, Archbishop Dolan admits “that’s been the steepest learning curve, especially in two areas - money and personnel.”
“The whole modus — the responsibility — of administration takes a lot of effort, a lot of worry and a lot of time. And I had no seasoning in that. The only time I had been a CEO, if you want to use that word, was seven years at the North American College which was certainly good training, but it wasn’t sufficient,” he said. “I wish I had had better skills in management and administration.”
Not being familiar with the Archdiocese of Milwaukee may have been a benefit, according to the archbishop.
“I came in pastorally with tabula rassa — a blank sheet. My immediate pastoral goal was to spend a lot of time listening and learning, which was a tremendous experience for me that I would never have had,” Archbishop Dolan said.
In order to learn about the heritage, gifts and pastoral challenges in the archdiocese, the archbishop noted that he kept his eyes and ears open but his mouth closed.
“From the viewpoint of human logic, it would have been a boost had I known about the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, but spiritually and morally and personally, it was probably good that I didn’t because of the very fact of learning it,” he said. “It helped me to get to know the people better and helped them to get to know me better.”
‘Parish’ of more than 700,000 people
If that approach sounded “pastoral,” it was by design as the archbishop asked himself, “What are my strong suits? What am I good at?”
He answered, “I hope I’m good being a pastor.” Thus, he approached the archdiocese as his parish.
“Even though I’ve never been a canonical pastor, every job I’ve had as a priest, I’ve asked, ‘How can I be a pastor, a shepherd to God’s people?’ So I just have to be a pastor, a shepherd,” the archbishop recalled telling himself.
Inspiration for the archbishop-as-pastor approach came, in part, according to Archbishop Dolan, from Cardinal Justin Rigali who was archbishop of St. Louis when then-Msgr. Dolan was appointed his auxiliary bishop. Upon completing his rectorship at the Pontifical North American College in 2001, the latter had told his archbishop, “I just want to be a parish priest. I want to be a pastor.”
When he was named auxiliary bishop, the priest told his archbishop, “I feel a little left out. I told you I wanted to be a parish priest.”
The archbishop, according to Archbishop Dolan, replied, “‘Well, you are. I’m the pastor of the 560,000 people and you’re my assistant. We’re to the diocese what the pastor is to the parish.’”
Archbishop Dolan said his knowledge of church history also had an impact on shaping his view of the archbishop’s role.
“As you look at great bishops, yeah, they might be remembered for their oratory; yeah, they’re remembered for their theological orthodoxy; yeah, they might be remembered for their managerial skills,” he said, mentioning St. Augustine, St. Ambrose, St. Gregory the Great, Bishop Edwin O’Hara among others. “But most of the time they’re remembered for being good pastors.”
View of archdiocese
When it comes to how he views the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, Archbishop Dolan asks: “Do I view the archdiocese as the central offices of the archdiocese or do I view the archdiocese as the 700,000 souls that make up the archdiocese? I obviously view it as the latter.”
Acknowledging that there “are a lot of bishops, and some pretty darn good ones” who view their jobs as 9 to 5, the archbishop takes a different approach.
“I’m one who says that my work as a bishop is evenings and weekends and, by the way, from 9 to 5, Monday through Friday, I happen to be stuck at a desk. The real work is when you’re with the folks,” he said.
He cited an incident that occurred shortly after he became archbishop.
“I showed up at a fish fry... As I’m leaving, one of the people said, ‘You know, it’s really great that you could leave your work and do this.’ I said. ‘You know, this is my work; this is what I enjoy doing.’
Noting that he enjoys teaching and preaching, Archbishop Dolan said he doesn’t pass up occasions to do either.
“As St. Paul said, make sure everywhere and every time the name of Jesus Christ is proclaimed. I want to do that. I will go anywhere if I can - from the Rotary Club to the grand opening of a day care center to a Mass in a nursing home to a parish 100th (anniversary) because you never pass up the chance to publicly proclaim the name of Jesus Christ, and to pray with and for his people,” he said.
Prayer life ‘deepened and intensified’
Archbishop Dolan is hesitant to talk about his prayer life “because it sounds like it is bragging.” But he explained that his prayer life has “deepened and intensified” since he became archbishop, and that “it would be impossible to do this job without a very sustaining prayer life.”
“Now, I take very seriously one of the bishop’s duties, which is to pray with and for his people,” he said. “One of the things people say most to me is, ‘Will you pray for me?’”
The archbishop said he emulates something Pope John Paul II did when people asked him to pray for them or their intention.
“When people ask me to pray for an intention, I do it right there: ‘Good, let’s pray for that right now,’” he said. “I try to get the name, and every morning I would lift up those intentions and I would enumerate them by name and cause. That is a burden of joy that a bishop has to pray with and for his people every day.”
The archbishop noted that when he arrived in Milwaukee, he, like most other bishops in the U.S., was consumed by the clergy sexual abuse crisis. He would pray that the Lord would make it go away so that he could get back to the work of the church. A column by Fr. Ronald Rolheiser, which appeared in your Catholic Herald, provided a different perspective.
“Fr. Rolheiser wrote that’s a wrong prayer because getting through this happens to be the work of the day. And this is not a distraction from our work; this is our work,” Archbishop Dolan said. “This is the Paschal Mystery in action, dying and rising, so we don’t pray, ‘Lord, please hurry up and make this go away so we can get to your work.’ Our prayer is, ‘Lord, give me the grace, courage and insight to do your work, which happens to be this right now.’”
Good times, even if tough times
Archbishop Dolan enjoys archdiocesan celebrations like ordaining priests and deacons, and celebrating the Chrism Mass and the Sacred Triduum, as well as parish events.
“Being at a parish exhilarates me. People know that. It’s not something I put on. It’s something I get into; I love it. I relish it,” he said.
The archbishop also sees a positive side in challenges he faces, e.g., when he had to make the decision to close the academic component of Saint Francis Seminary or when he met with victims of clergy sexual abuse.
“That was terribly painful, terribly emotionally draining,” he said of those meetings. “But a real sense - almost like the Agony in the Garden — of pastoral resolution that I would find sustaining, that I would look back on as a good thing.”
He added, “Many days when I felt literally in solidarity with Jesus on the cross, you could still say, ‘Ongoing redemption is being accomplished through this.’ That’s a good thing.”
Causes of frustration
“What frustrates me most is what’s not going on in the church — and should be!” Archbishop Dolan said.
He cited the need to do more in prisons and day cares, in support of marriage and families, in immigration reform, promoting a culture of life, and helping stem inner city violence.
“Where I feel frustrated is that we’re unable to respond as vigorously as we should. The good news is that we’re doing great things. The sad news is that we should be doing more of it and expanding it and strengthening it, and we can’t because of the human constraints. Most of the time that being money and people,” the archbishop said.
The archbishop said the church invests 95 percent of its energy, time and resources in maintaining the good it is doing.
“Thank God we do, because what we’re doing is tremendous and needs to be maintained. We can’t devote enough time to the mission. In other words, what else needs to be done? How can we bring the same talent and generosity and devotion that animates what we’re maintaining to new areas? That’s the frustration,” he said.
What to expect
During the next five years, the archbishop plans to build upon the six pastoral priorities, i.e., growth in holiness, interior conversion and reliance on the sacrament, especially the Sunday Eucharist; strengthen parishes; foster vocations; strengthen Catholic education and formation; emphasize justice and charity; and instill stewardship.
“I had to be dragged into it kicking and screaming to do that strategic planning process,” he said of the mechanism that led to the establishment of those priorities. “The longer I’m here, the more I see that the best way I can serve the people of the archdiocese is to keep focused on those pastoral goals.”
The other thing he plans to do, and for which he makes no apology, is to ask for money.
“For five years, I haven’t much. But now I’ve got to. And I’m not embarrassed about it. Do I like doing it? No, I wish I didn’t have to. But, darn it, I have to. If you look in the Acts of the Apostles and letters of St Paul, that was kind of a concern of the first bishops, too. Take care of the needs of God’s people,” he said.
The archbishop said he will trust in God’s providence and in the generosity of the people in the archdiocese “who have never let us down in the past.”
“What I need to do is make sure the Archdiocese of Milwaukee is on firm financial ground. Right now it isn’t, and I’m blunt about that... We’re not making it. And we have to. So I’m not going to apologize to say that one of the major goals of the next three years as archbishop is to see that this ($100 million) capital campaign is a success,” Archbishop Dolan said.
‘You’re stuck with me’
Either by luck or through practice, the archbishop yells an answer to a question before it is asked: “I’m not going anywhere!”
When the question about how he feels when he hears speculation regarding his future in southeastern Wisconsin is asked, the archbishop replied, “I feel embarrassed on the one hand; I feel flattered on the other. Oh my gosh, people think I’m going to New York. I don’t think I am. I’m rather confident that I’m not. And that is certainly something you don’t plan for or anticipate. So I mean it when I say, ‘You’re stuck with me.’”
He said that the obedience he pledged to his bishop when he was ordained a priest and to the pope when he was ordained a bishop was liberating since he doesn’t have to worry about his future.
“People think you apply for these things. Some people say, ‘I hope your plans go through and you get New York.’ Are you kidding? That’s crazy — like you’d fill out a job application for it or something? That just doesn’t work!” Archbishop Dolan said. “And it shouldn’t work, and I’m glad it doesn’t work that way, and you don’t let yourself think that.”
Faith and hope, not naiveté
His upbeat approach and demeanor have prompted some people to view Archbishop Dolan as “Pollyannaish” or to dub him “Happy Talkin’ Tim.” He’s aware of those monikers and their implications.
“God willing, I’m always instilling hope. But I also need to be realistic and very practical and blunt and forthright when it comes to facing matters of pastoral urgency that we have,” he said.
He’s concerned that people would “interpret the strong sense of faith and hope that are gifts of the Spirit that get me through as perhaps naiveté.”
“Nobody can be in this office for more than a couple of days without being aware of the tremendous warts on the Mystical Body of Christ. They’re more than warts, they’re wounds. They’re tumors. And one is quickly aware of those. What towers above it all is that faith in God and that reliance upon his grace and mercy,” the archbishop said.
How does he cope with what he faces?
“You simply believe everything is in God’s hands, and faith and hope become allied. He never calls us to do something without giving us sufficient grace. You believe everything works out for the good of those who believe,” he said. “You believe with all your heart and soul that if you are pliant to God’s grace and God’s call. He’s going to see you through. That’s the major virtue that I relish and that’s what gets me through. The vocabulary is prayer and your major message is that you want to share that with others.”