{"id":470397,"date":"2025-12-25T08:33:21","date_gmt":"2025-12-25T08:33:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/470397\/"},"modified":"2025-12-25T08:33:21","modified_gmt":"2025-12-25T08:33:21","slug":"cardinal-dolan-holds-final-midnight-mass-at-st-patricks-cathedral-ahead-of-retirement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/470397\/","title":{"rendered":"Cardinal Dolan holds final Midnight Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral ahead of retirement"},"content":{"rendered":"

Timothy <\/a>Cardinal<\/a> Dolan presided over his final Midnight Mass at St. Patrick\u2019s Cathedral on Christmas Eve, a joyful service held as he prepares to end his 16-year run as the head of the Archdiocese of New York.<\/p>\n

The 75-year-old beloved faith leader, who has served some 2.8 million Roman Catholics across Manhattan, The Bronx and Staten Island since 2009, led mass for the nearly 2,400 churchgoers who packed the iconic Fifth Avenue cathedral ahead of his retirement.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI love Cardinal Dolan,\u201d said Elvira Molinari, who was among thousands vying to secure a ticket to the service after entering the church\u2019s high-demand lottery back in June.<\/p>\n

Cardinal Timothy Dolan speaking at the final midnight mass at St. Patrick\u2019s Cathedral. St. Patrick’s Cathedral NYC<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s the wonderful shepherd of this huge flock in the metropolitan New York area,\u201d she told The Post. \u201cAnd he\u2019s real. He\u2019s a real person, and he\u2019s humorous. I\u2019ve met him at a few functions\u2026he\u2019s so very welcoming to everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another attendee flew in from Monaghan, Ireland, to New York just to witness Dolan\u2019s final Christmas Eve mass.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been here for five Christmases, and this is a very important night for me, because it\u2019ll be Cardinal Dolan\u2019s last Christmas Eve mass,\u201d Francis Meehan said. \u201cTonight is so special, because Cardinal Dolan was cardinal here for 17 years. And I am a great admirer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dolan is especially cherished by Irish Catholics \u2014 with one at the mass going so far as to call him her personal \u201cpope.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCardinal Dolan is an inspiration for every Irish New York Catholic. He has a deeper meaning for us because he\u2019s part of us. \u2029Do you know what I mean?\u201d said Paddy Locke, who moved from Ireland to New York. \u201cHe\u2019s going to be definitely missed because he\u2019s done so much for everyone out here, especially the Irish community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Locke said Dolan even visited her hometown in County Kerry to do a mass there.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a special, special man,\u201d she told The Post. \u201cHe\u2019s not only my archbishop, but he\u2019s like my pope.\u201d<\/p>\n

John Dragowich, a fan of the cherished cleric\u2019s radio show, \u201cConversation with Cardinal Dolan,\u201d on Sirius XM\u2019s The Catholic Channel, praised the prelate for his down-to-earth nature.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe can relate to different types of people,\u201d the 66-year-old said. <\/p>\n

Dolan shakes hands with Mayor Eric Adams during the Christmas Eve service. St. Patrick’s Cathedral NYC<\/p>\n

\u201cI could relate to him. He\u2019s like a guy that slaps you on the back. I want to say a man\u2019s man, but he speaks like one of the guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

Outgoing Mayor Eric Adams also attended the festive service.<\/p>\n

Dolan will be succeeded by Bishop Ronald Hicks<\/a>, a little-known Illinois cleric who has led the Diocese of Joliet since 2020 and was handpicked by Pope Leo XIV to replace the powerful Catholic leader.<\/p>\n

The move comes after Dolan reached the Vatican\u2019s mandatory retirement age of 75 in February. <\/p>\n

Dolan is preparing to end his 16-year tenure after he reached the Vatican\u2019s mandatory retirement age of 75 in February. St. Patrick’s Cathedral NYC<\/p>\n

Hicks will be installed<\/a> in his new role on Feb. 6. <\/p>\n

Dolan, who headed the Diocese of Milwaukee before moving to New York, arrived in 2009, after Pope Benedict XVI picked him to replace 77-year-old Edward Cardinal Egan upon his retirement \u2014 the first time outgoing and incoming cardinals had met in person in the history of the archdiocese. <\/p>\n

Three years later, Benedict elevated the St. Louis, Mo., native from archbishop to cardinal, making him eligible to vote in the papal conclaves that named Pope Francis and Pope Leo. Dolan was even rumored<\/a> as a dark horse candidate for the top seat at the Vatican after Pope Francis died.<\/p>\n

The 75-year-old retiring leader has served some 2.8 million Roman Catholics across Manhattan, The Bronx and Staten Island since 2009. St. Patrick’s Cathedral NYC<\/p>\n

In New York, Dolan has been a fixture, hosting the popular\u00a0annual \u201cblessing of the animals\u201d<\/a>\u00a0event at Radio City Music Hall and more recently speaking up for immigrant rights amid an uptick in ICE raids.<\/p>\n

He was an advocate for center-right Catholics, fighting against abortion rights and same-sex marriage, and scuffled with the Obama administration over calls to provide contraception to religious groups.<\/p>\n

Dolan has embraced the limelight throughout his nearly two-decade tenure<\/a> as the head of the archdiocese, leaving behind a legacy of compassion and firm resolve to defend the teachings of the Catholic Church, friends and colleagues said.<\/p>\n

Dolan, who headed the Diocese of Milwaukee before moving to New York, arrived in 2009, after Pope Benedict XVI picked him to replace 77-year-old Edward Cardinal Egan upon his retirement. Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s the ultimate happy warrior of the Catholic Church,\u201d Dennis Poust, executive director of the New York State Catholic Conference, previously told The Post.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a legend. What you see is what you get with Cardinal Dolan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Poust added that Dolan \u201chad a list of people he was praying for at all time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cardinal Timothy Dolan and Ronald Hicks leading a mass at St. Patrick\u2019s Cathedral. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u00a0you see of him on TV is the same person behind closed doors,\u201d Poust said. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a joyful midwestern guy who embraced New York.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Timothy Cardinal Dolan presided over his final Midnight Mass at St. Patrick\u2019s Cathedral on Christmas Eve, a joyful…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":470398,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,20496,5248,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,3417,189194,92507,67,586,132,5230,68,1154,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-470397","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-catholic-church","10":"tag-metro","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-city","13":"tag-newyork","14":"tag-newyorkcity","15":"tag-ny","16":"tag-nyc","17":"tag-pope-leo-xiv","18":"tag-st-patricks-cathedral","19":"tag-timothy-dolan","20":"tag-united-states","21":"tag-united-states-of-america","22":"tag-unitedstates","23":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","24":"tag-us","25":"tag-us-news","26":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115779286118813569","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=470397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470397\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/470398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=470397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=470397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}