WASHINGTON (Reuters) - By Daniel Trotta
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A "humbled"
Archbishop Timothy Dolan said Friday his elevation
to cardinal by Pope Benedict is more of an honor for New York
than for himself.
One of 22 newly named cardinals from around the world, Dolan
was the only one representing an Archdiocese in the United
States. One other American, the former archbishop of Baltimore,
Edwin O'Brien, who heads the Equestrian Order of the Holy
Sepulchre in Jerusalem, was also promoted.
Dolan's elevation means that New York will have a cardinal
for the first time since 2009, when Edward Cardinal Egan stepped
down.
Eighteen of the new cardinals including Dolan, 61, are under
80, young enough to be eligible to enter a secret conclave of
cardinals that will choose the next pope after Benedict dies.
"Yes, I'm honored, humbled and grateful. But let's be frank.
This is not about Timothy Dolan. This is an honor from the Holy
Father to the archdiocese of New York," Dolan told a news
conference after morning Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral.
"It's almost as if Pope Benedict XVI is putting the red hat
of the cardinal on the top of the Empire State Building or upon
the Statue of Liberty or home plate at Yankee Stadium or on the
spires of this great St. Patrick's Cathedral," Dolan said.
The Archdiocese of New York, with some 2.6 million members,
has been at the center of heated policy battles within the U.S.
Roman Catholic community, particularly in the 1980s and '90s
over the church's position on homosexuality and AIDS education.
By being named cardinal, Dolan follows in the footsteps of
his predecessors, including Edward Cardinal Egan, John Cardinal
O'Connor, Terence Cardinal Cooke and Francis Cardinal Spellman,
all of whom were elevated to cardinal.
Dolan was named archbishop of New York in 2009 after serving
as the archbishop of Milwaukee.
(Additional reporting by Ellen Wulfhorst; Editing by Greg
McCune)
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