Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Latter-day Saint
Cardinal Dolan and his church

Cardinal Dolan and his church

Last updated on: October 12, 2022 at 10:21 pm by Dan Peterson

Cardinal Dolan and his church 2022-10-12T22:21:59-06:00 Dan Peterson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the principal Roman Catholic church in New York City, faces onto Fifth Avenue and is about five minutes’ walk from where my wife and I are staying right now. In fact, we’re just on the far side of it in this Wikimedia Commons public domain photograph. (The scaffolding is down now, and the Cathedral is beautifully clean.)

First of all, I want to apologize to all of those who, on my recommendation, tried to watch the promised fireside by Jeffrey Mark Bradshaw this past Sunday night. (See “Virtual Fireside Tonight on “Freemasonry and the Origins of Latter-day Saint Temple Ordinances.”“) Something technological went wrong, I guess, and, for whatever little it may be worth, I wasn’t able to watch the fireside either. (I don’t know whether anybody was.) Some have inquired about whether or not a recording of it will eventually be available for viewing. My understanding is that, yes, a recording has been made. And it will be posted somewhere online when it’s ready to go. I’ll try to advise you of that when it happens.

I think that I won’t comment on this, as no comment is really needed:

“Are Republicans more likely to die from COVID-19 than Democrats? Here’s what researchers found: Partisan differences over virus can have ‘life and death consequences,’ BYU professor says”

I once had deep and serious political opinions, identifying myself as a strongly free-market-oriented federalist conservative. However, being publicly unenthusiastic about one particular politician, I discovered, caused several fairly significant potential donors to declare that they would never contribute to the entirely apolitical Interpreter Foundation so long as I’m president of it. So I’ve decided, since I’m more committed to the flourishing of Interpreter than I am to bellowing my political views fruitlessly into the wind, to voluntarily surrender the right of political expression that other citizens of the United States are afforded by the Constitution. I have not, however, given up my views on COVID-19 and vaccinations, which I do not believe ought to have become partisan political matters.

I also retain an unashamed and unapologetic interest in the question of religious freedom. So here is a link relating to one of the current fronts in the battle over that question:

“Let Yeshiva Be Yeshiva”

This new book, written by Terryl Givens and his son Nathaniel Givens, looks extremely interesting:

Into the Headwinds: Why Belief Has Always Been Hard―and Still Is

And this sounds interesting, as well:

“BYU profs create new micro nuclear reactor to produce nuclear energy more safely: Molten salt nuclear reactors reduce risks of accidents, meltdowns”

A view on the interior of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, in midtown Manhattan
(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

Among other things today — I’ve been trying to catch up on some writing — we wandered by, into, and around St. Patrick’s Cathedral, which is very near where we’re staying. Standing on Fifth Avenue, it’s a beautiful church, particularly inside. And I like it, too, because it maybe gives some sense of what the medieval cathedrals of Europe were like when their stone was fresh and they hadn’t yet been stained by centuries of candles, incense, mold, soot, damp and foul weather, smoke, pollution, and sheer grime. I still love those old cathedrals, but I can’t honestly say that I always really like them.

I suppose that one might justly object to the Gothic Revival style of the Cathedral. (I can imagine what my architectural hero, Frank Lloyd Wright, might have said.) Is there any real reason why a cathedral has to be in Gothic style, simply because the great but centuries-old cathedrals of Europe were often (and quite honestly, given the era of their building) built in that style. I’m thinking, too, of Rockefeller Chapel at the University of Chicago. (Which could, but won’t, lead us into the whole question of “Collegiate Gothic,” at place like Chicago and Princeton and Yale and Duke. Shouldn’t a church or a cathedral (or a university) reflect the architectural style of the age in which it was built? Consider, as an example of that choice, the still relatively new Cathedral of Los Angeles.)

The late Clayton Christensen once told me that he went through a phase when he first arrived as a student at BYU where he thought that, for it to be a truly great university, the school’s buildings needed to be covered with ivy. And, then, as it happened, he ended up studying at Oxford and Harvard, and spent his teaching career at Harvard, so maybe he actually got what he wanted.). But I confess that I do really like Gothic Revival buildings.

A view of the nave of St. Patrick’s looking tward the high altar.
(Wikimedia Commons public domain photograph)

St. Patrick’s is the seat of the archbishop of New York, who is currently Timothy Cardinal Dolan. Cardinal Dolan, who is the tenth archbishop of the diocese of New York, was a great friend of the late Elder L. Tom Perry of the Council of the Twelve Apostles. They agreed, I’m told, to abandon honorific titles and to call one another simply “Tim” and “Tom,” and got on famously. For one thing, they could joke with another. Elder Perry told me about one conversation that they had had some time before. “Tim,” Elder Perry said to Cardinal Dolan, “we would like all of your people to become Latter-day Saints. Barring that, though, we want you to get your attendance numbers up for mass. They’re not nearly high enough.” And, apparently, when they occasionally encountered each other, Elder Perry would check up on how things were going. Fortunately, the friendly relationship between Cardinal Dolan and Latter-day Saint leadership has continued since the death of Elder Perry, as these links should illustrate:

“Cardinal Timothy Dolan Honored With Visionary Leadership Award: Elder Holland Gives Keynote Address at New York City Event”

“Catholic cardinal joins with Latter-day Saint leaders to share love of God, country and religious freedom”

“Cardinal Dolan meets with President Nelson, calls religious freedom ‘quintessential American cause’”

I was in the audience, for whatever little it’s worth, when Cardinal Dolan gave his speech at Utah Valley University a few years ago. There was a genuine sense of warmth and friendship in the meeting, and my wife and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

St. Patrick’s Cathedral is Cardinal Dolan’s seat as Roman Catholic archbishop of New York.
(Wikimedia Commons public domain photo by David Shankbone)

My more obsessive critics often enjoy interpreting what I write in a manner that makes me a manifest dimwit. It’s sometimes even rather funny, in its way. And I’m reminded at such times of a comment from Jane Austen’s Mr. Bennet, in Pride and Prejudice: “For what do we live,” he asks of his daughter Elizabeth, “but to make sport for our neighbors, and laugh at them in our turn?”

Posted from New York City

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Previous Post

October 9, 2022

Virtual Fireside Tonight on "Freemasonry and the Origins of Latter-day Saint Temple Ordinances"

Next Post

October 11, 2022 Two Ways of Remembering the Dead in Manhattan

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 March 2014 August 2013 February 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who was the king that the angel of the Lord struck because he did not give God glory, but received the worship of the people, and who was eaten by worms?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Haddam Hezekiah Herod Saul