Archbishop Dolan takes over on The Catholic Channel

The program is now called 'A Conversation with the Archbishop'.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Catholic Online) - Christine Schult noted on the blog Catholic Media Review that Archbishop Timothy Dolan will continue the popular "Conversation" program on the Catholic Channel for Sirius XM Satellite Radio that was begun by his predecessor.

The Catholic Channel hosted "A Conversation with the Cardinal," featuring Edward Cardinal Egan, weekly since December 2006. Cardinal Egan held his last show on April 2, which was also the occasion for his 77th birthday. The studio was crowded with hosts of other Catholic Channel programs and served as a retrospective of what has taken place since the first broadcast.

Beginning April 16 "A Conversation with the Archbishop" with the new Archbishop of New York took its place. Continuing the format used by the Cardinal, Archbishop Dolan will answer listener e-mails, comment on various topics, address activities taking place in the Archdiocese of New York and discuss other significant issues in the Church.

"A Conversation with the Archbishop" can be heard on Thursdays at 1 pm ET with replays every Saturday at 6 am and 1 pm ET and Sundays 9 am, 6 pm and midnight ET. The program is carried on Sirius XM's The Catholic Channel, located at Sirius channel 159 and XM channel 117.

During his final April 2 broadcast Cardinal Egan stated, "Appearing each week on The Catholic Channel for A Conversation with the Cardinal has not only been a splendid way to talk directly with people all across North America, but it has also been a great deal of fun."

"I'm grateful to the audience who have listened and asked so many interesting questions. Their comments and their support were tremendously inspiring and I will miss having the opportunity to be with them each week."

In his last broadcast, the cardinal took time to set the record straight on a number of issues where the media had published reports about him that were entirely false. For example, he told listeners that he wasn't retiring to a penthouse apartment in Paris. "Somebody wrote that I have this wonderful penthouse apartment in Paris, but don't you know -- nobody will tell me the address. I only wish I knew!"

He also said he doesn't dine frequently at Upper East End Gourmet Restaurants, as was reported, and he wasn't against continuing the practice of celibacy for priests.

In a moment of candid reflection he talked about his love for playing the piano and indicated that he might have become a concert pianist if he hadn't been called to ministry.

Many of those present for the cardinal's final broadcast had praise for the fact that they were allowed to do radio which was not "stained glass" programming.

Rob Astorino, who has hosted the show since the very first broadcast, reminisced about his first meeting with Cardinal Egan and saying that he actually found him to be a pretty nice guy. The cardinal quickly interjected, "If the New York Times and The Daily News find out you're saying that, you're liable to lose your position in the journalistic community."

The cardinal has never been reluctant to offer his criticisms of the media, especially regarding their anti-Catholic posturing and lack of accuracy. His decision to do "A Conversation with the Cardinal" came out of his desire to offer people an opportunity to get a clearer picture of his leadership of the diocese and the Catholic Church in general.

The cardinal said in the broadcast, "It is the mission of the Catholic Channel to say what the nation has to hear. To say what is basically decent, what is basically right."

Regarding the secular media, he said, "I live in a town where the media are not friendly. They feel that they are going to be important only to the extent that they pull down not only ourselves, but any other institution that seems to have some standing. So I think it's important to talk over the media."

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Randy Sly is the Associate Editor of Catholic Online

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