Joseph Zwilling, spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York, announced Monday that Cardinal Timothy Dolan has been invited to pray at the Democratic National Convention.
Timothy Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop of New York, has accepted an invitation to deliver the closing prayer at next week’s Democratic National Convention. As was previously announced, he will also be offering the closing prayer at the Republican Convention on Thursday of this week.
It was made clear to the Democratic Convention organizers, as it was to the Republicans, that the Cardinal was coming solely as a pastor, only to pray, not to endorse any party, platform, or candidate. The Cardinal consulted Bishop Peter Jugis of the Diocese of Charlotte, who gave the Cardinal his consent to take part in the convention that will be taking place in his diocese.
Last week, when it was announced Cardinal Dolan would pray at the Republican National Convention, Democratic officials pointedly ignored the Cardinal’s offer to do the same at the Democratic National Convention. But criticism of this snub grew, especially in light of the Democratic Party’s official embrace of a radical Muslim group’s “Jumah” at the DNC.
The DNC’s initial failure to invite Cardinal Dolan was seen as a victory of “social justice” Catholics over pro-life Catholics. The victory was temporary, however, as the backlash (powered largely by new media outlets) was too great for the Democratic Party to ignore.
Plans to continue with the controversial “Jumah at the DNC,” however, appear to be unaffected by the reversal of the Dolan snub.
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