Outgoing NYC Cardinal Dolan Faces Unprecedented Catholic Backlash After Comparing Kirk to St. Paul
Pope Leo stays measured, while Dolan’s likely successor — Bishop Daniel Flores — prepares to bring a very different voice to New York.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan shocked many Catholics when he hailed the late Charlie Kirk as “a modern-day St. Paul” on national television this week.
The New York archbishop praised Kirk — a 31-year-old conservative activist shot dead last week — as “a missionary, an evangelist, [and] a hero”
For an American cardinal to compare Kirk to one of Christianity’s greatest saints has prompted fierce pushback from clergy and laity alike.
A Polarizing, Not Saintly, Legacy
Indeed, many faithful are appalled that Dolan would elevate Kirk to saintly status, given Kirk’s divisive and hateful track record. Kirk built his brand on incendiary rhetoric at odds with Catholic social teaching.
For instance, he derided Pope Francis as “this Marxist who calls himself the head of your church” — openly disrespecting the pontiff.
When Pope Leo XIV was elected in May 2025, Kirk sneered that “Mr. Prevost, the new pope, was retweeting George Floyd propaganda” — a jibe at the Holy Father’s support for racial justice protests.
Kirk’s commentary on race and gender was equally toxic.
He maligned prominent Black women — from television host Joy Reid to former First Lady Michelle Obama — claiming they “do not have the brain processing power… to be taken really seriously” without “steal[ing] a white person’s slot” via affirmative action.
He even attacked Martin Luther King Jr., calling the civil rights icon “awful” and “not a good person.” Any reflection on Kirk’s legacy must grapple with the racism and sexism he broadcast to millions under the guise of “truth-telling.”
Pope Leo XIV’s Thoughtful Response
Dolan’s effusive eulogy stands in stark contrast to the Vatican’s response. Pope Leo XIV, far from lionizing Kirk, reacted with prayer and concern rather than praise.
While the pope hasn’t commented directly on Kirk’s assasination (which has angered some in MAGA world), the Holy See Press Office confirmed that the pope is “holding Charlie Kirk and his family in prayer,” and that he “expressed concern about political violence” while urging people to “refrain from rhetoric and instrumentalization that lead to polarization rather than dialogue.”
This measured response from the pontiff only highlights how inappropriate Cardinal Dolan’s St. Paul comparison truly is.
Catholics are left in dismay, wondering how any church leader could see a man who sowed so much division as a latter-day Paul.
Cardinal Dolan submitted his obligatory retirement letter to Pope Francis earlier this year on his 75th birthday, and Pope Leo is expected to pick his replacement in the months ahead.
The top candidate to replace Dolan is Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville, Texas, whose profile has risen in recent years, especially for his work on the border and addressing gun violence.
After the Uvalde shooting, Bishop Flores tweeted:
Don’t tell me that guns aren’t the problem, people are. I’m sick of hearing it. The darkness first takes our children who then kill our children, using the guns that are easier to obtain than aspirin. We sacralize death’s instruments and then are surprised that death uses them.
That sounds like a nice vibe shift for the Big Apple.
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I never realized what a kook Dolan is.
Bishop Flores would remove the clericalism that Dolan brought with him. Bishop Flores has roots in Texas and understands the immigration issue. He’s also against the death penalty.