10 years a cardinal: Cardinal Timothy Dolan looks back on last decade and what's ahead
NEW YORK -- Just inside the front door of the residence behind St. Patrick's Cathedral, Cardinal Timothy Dolan keeps a colorful collection of headwear.
"People begin to give you red hats, because you're a cardinal," he told CBS2's Tony Aiello in an exclusive one-on-one interview.
The red biretta is a traditional symbol of the cardinal's office. Dolan received his from Pope Benedict the 16th 10 years ago on Feb. 18, 2012.
"This is the actual one that the pope put on my head," he explained.
He keeps it in a place of prominence.
"Did I ever think I'd be a cardinal? No, no. Now, honestly, when I became Archbishop of New York I figured, oh, I guess I'm gonna be a cardinal not because of me, but because of the importance of this great Archdiocese, its priests and people," Dolan said.
"Cardinals are sometimes referred to as 'princes of the church.' Are you comfortable with that?" Aiello asked.
"No, I don't like that term," Dolan replied. "We don't need that. We're supposed to be like Jesus, and Lord knows he wasn't much into nobility."
There's no denying there was a regal magnificence to the ceremony, called a consistory, held at the Vatican a decade ago.
Aiello joined CBS2's Maurice DuBois in Rome to cover the events that whirlwind week.
"I see people whose friendship I cherish," Dolan said at the time.
Our affable archbishop enjoyed the company of hundreds of friends and family who traveled to Rome -- pilgrims who joined him for mass and a meal every day.
"I remember how much fun you were having," Aiello recalled.
"I figured, hey I'm going to enjoy this. And did I ever," said Dolan. "Joy is important to me, happiness. Joy is the infallible sign of God's goodness, as the French philosopher said."
"The headlines had you as the 'rock star' of the consistory. Did you feel like a rock star?" Aiello asked.
"I felt overwhelmed by the affection and the joy of the people," Dolan said.
The cardinal keeps a picture of his mother, then in her 80s, meeting Pope Benedict after he received his red hat. Shirley Dolan told Aiello in 2012 the pope said to her son, "She is too young to be your mother."
"She said to him, 'Holy Father, as a Catholic, I've always believed you to be infallible, but now I know it,'" the cardinal added with a laugh.
"It was a Dolan family celebration and reunion. Your nieces brought communion up," Aiello said.
"Yeah, they all came over. My niece Erin, OK, because she was expecting a baby, so I said, let's get two for the price of one," Dolan said. "And my niece Shannon who had struggled with cancer ... And then do you remember I got to pick one person to receive holy communion from [the Pope], and I chose my brother-in-law Fred because he was struggling with cancer. He has since gone to the Lord. But yeah, those were special moments, those very personal, very personal moments."
A year later, Benedict shocked the world by resigning. Dolan was called to perform a cardinal's most solemn duty -- electing a new pope during a so-called "conclave."
In 2013, speculation about a possible American pope centered on Dolan.
Cardinals take a vow of secrecy, and he uses humor to deflect questions about the voting that eventually elected Pope Francis.
"According to America Magazine, you heard your name twice when they announced the votes from the first round," said Aiello.
"I was sleeping then," Dolan joked.
Dolan warmly welcomed Pope Francis to New York two years later in 2015. Their relationship is often described as "cordial" rather than close.
Francis is reshaping the college of Cardinals; there's no guarantee the next Archbishop of New York will be made a Cardinal.
"Pope Francis, and I'm glad he is, is now naming Cardinals from all over the world," Dolan said. "Look, the Archbishop of Los Angeles is not a Cardinal, it's the largest Archdiocese in the country. The Archbishop of Paris is not a Cardinal. He's going out to the peripheries."
"You told us in 2012 that of the many things that were on your list, getting to know your brother cardinals, because you never knew when you might be called together in conclave," Aiello said.
"And it was only a year later, remember," Dolan said.
"It was a year later. Were you ready for that conclave, so early?" Aiello said.
"No, uh-uh, was not at all. And I wouldn't be ready for another one," Dolan said. "In the general course of time, you would kind of get to know them, 'cause you'd be in Rome for, let's say, meetings, synods, events. I haven't been to Rome now in a long time 'cause you can't travel. There's none of those events."
Dolan must submit his resignation as archbishop when he turns 75. The Vatican could wait months or even years before accepting it.
"You just turned 72. Do you feel like you're in the homestretch of your service?" Aiello asked.
"Somebody said, 'Are you in the bottom of the ninth?' I said, 'No, I'm at the seventh inning stretch,'" Dolan replied. "Now, is your life fulfillment over in that you've been made a cardinal, and I say no, really what I want to be is a saint. 'Cause that's my goal. That's the goal of any believer, you want to get to heaven, you want to be a citizen of heaven. So that's the biggie. And here's the challenge -- being a cardinal can help you do that or being a cardinal can hurt you doing that. If it goes to your head and if you get too caught up in all the externals, that's not gonna help you gain your eternal goal, so I gotta be consciously careful about that."
Dolan continued, "You know, Lord, when I stand before You, You're not gonna say, 'oh you were at that conclave, way to go, you're a cardinal.' You're gonna say, 'when I was hungry, did you feed me? When I was in prison, did you visit me? When I was sick, did you care for me? When I was ignorant, did you teach me? When I was a stranger, did you welcome me?' He's told us what He's gonna judge us on."
He plans on leading the 2.8 million Catholics in his flock with the heart of a servant.
"I just want to be their pastor, their shepherd. I want to be their parish priest. That's my guiding principle," Dolan said.
In the time he has left, the cardinal said a focus will be moving past the pandemic.
"What have we learned through this? Let's do a little examination of conscience. Thank God our Catholic charities came through. Over 10 million meals, can you believe that? What was the church good at in these two dark years? What could we have done better?" he told Aiello.
Leading the way will be the man in the red hat.
