Blog - September 2014 RSS Feed

Cardinal Dolan speaks with Jeff Gardner, the founder of the Picture Christians Project. Jeff Gardner returned a week ago from Iraq and shares powerful images of his trip.

One of the things I’ve most come to appreciate during my 5 ½ years as Archbishop of New York is just how seriously our Jewish neighbors approach their holy days. Traffic is lighter, things quiet down a bit in this hectic City, as the observance of these solemn days begin.

The world we live in, all of creation, is a gift from God and a great sign of His love for us. Our Holy Father, Pope Francis, has repeatedly stressed the responsibility we have been given by God to care for that creation.

Last week I called my friend Sviatoslav Shevchuk, the Major Archbishop for the Greek Catholics of Ukraine. I have grown to admire this young, brave brother bishop over the last years, as we have often spent time in Rome together, and especially when I was with him last year for the dedication of the daring new Cathedral of the Resurrection in Kiev.

We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee, b ecause by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world .

Today’s Wall Street Journal has an excellent “Houses of Worship” column by J. Perry Smith on The Elements of Sermonizing Style . I particularly like, and completely agree with, his assessment on Pope Francis as one who knows how to preach: “One preacher who knows how to deliver a sermon like that is Pope Francis .

It seems to keep getting worse and worse. Now we hear of three innocent, beloved sisters raped and beheaded at their mission in Burundi. Even the police were sickened by the ruthlessness. Father Paolo Mikko, the local parish priest, tells us how the ISIS forces drove the ancient Christian community from Erbil, in Iraqui Kurdistan:  militants of the “Islamic Caliphate” took over churches and convents, burned crosses, statues, and the Bible, and instructed the few Christians who could not flee to “convert to Islam, pay a protection tax – – or die.”  The director of UNICEF in Iraq, Marzio Babelli, described it as a “jihadist ethnic cleansing,” as the persecutors brag that the city is “Christian free,” with the word “Nazarene” spray-painted in derision on the shells of the torched homes of the fleeing Christians.