That is interesting. Has Dolan come out for one side or idealology over another?
GIJames248
No. Catholic Bishops don't normally endorse political candidates, or really go much into political policy, those are the domains of the laity. Bishops do however speak about moral issues even if the moral issues may have some political effects.Dolan doesn't want to wade into partisan politics, his job is to be a bishop, not a politician. However Dolan has been outspoken against some of Obama's policies, particularly the HHS mandate which would force Catholic organizations (and all employers) to provide health-insurance plans to that cover things that go against Catholic teaching (namely contraceptives, sterilizations and some abortion-inducing drugs). Dolan's Archdiocese (New York) and plenty of other Catholic organizations (dioceses, charities, colleges such as Notre Dame) have filed lawsuits against the Obama Adminstration arguing that the HHS mandate is unconstitutional (violates the First Amendment) and illegal (violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act).
Dolan won't officially endorse either Obama or Romney, though I think he'll probably vote for Romney because if Romney wins Romney will repeal the HHS mandate, but if Obama wins then the Archdiocese of New York will be fighting an expensive lawsuit through the federal courts. Plus Cardinal Dolan is friends with Paul Ryan (before being Archbishop of New York, Dolan was Archbishop of Milwaukee).
As for ideologies,I imagine Dolan has some trouble with both political parties, though his disagreements with the Democratic party may be more fundamental.
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