New York's own Archbishop Timothy Dolan is the subject of a feature article in the latest issue of New York magazine: "The Archbishop of Charm," by Robert Kolker. It's primarily concerned with evaluating Dolan as a spokesperson for the Church to the wider world -- or at least to New York City.

Catholic leaders across America are now faced with the same dilemma: How do you maintain the message of the church when that message is being questioned with ever-greater frequency? In choosing Timothy Dolan for the critical New York post, Rome has picked someone who is, if nothing else, an expert message-deliverer, blending the spotlight-loving tendencies of an OConnor with all of the warmth and approachability that Egan lacked. But if you cant alter the content of the message, is the delivery enough?

I'm not sure this is the most fruitful angle on the challenges and goals of Dolan's position. But it's a rewording of something Dolan himself told Kolker.

The challenge, as Dolan sees it, is how to expand the churchs appeal while protecting its principles. How do we make something that is by its nature timeless timely? he asks. How do we make something that is by its nature otherworldly attractive to the world?

Cardinal Egan seemed to feel (and, at the end of his tenure, was often heard to say) that the media in NYC has it in for the archbishop of New York. It always seemed to me that he hurt himself by approaching the media with that assumption in place -- his defensiveness could hardly yield flattering press coverage. But Dolan is a much friendlier subject and a cheerful interviewee, and it pays off -- that supposedly hostile media turns out to be rather friendly. New York may not be buying the Church's take on homosexuality, but they obviously got a kick out of the way Dolan expressed it. "God made me with a particular soft spot in my heart for a martini..." That's good enough for a pull-quote, even if in context it comes off as a rather lame attempt to soften the Church's hard line against homosexual behavior.There's some interesting background information if you're not up to date on Dolan's bio. The interview itself doesn't give much away, but the charm certainly comes through. It's hard to imagine a speech like this one coming out of Egan's mouth, at least in conversation with a reporter -- and even if you prefer your hierarchs more dignified and remote, you have to admit the new archbishop makes the job sound like fun:

Dolan suggests that even Benedict has done more to embrace the secular world than anyone had expected. He once heard Benedict say, The church is all about yes, yes, not no, no. And I thought, Bingo! You know, the church is the one who dreams, the church is the one who constantly has the vision, the church is the one thats constantly saying Yes! to everything that life and love and sexuality and marriage and belief and freedom and human dignityeverything that that stands for, the church is giving one big resounding Yes! The church founded the universities, the church was the patron of the arts, the scientists were all committed Catholics. And thats what we have to recapture: the kind of exhilarating, freeing aspect.

Those not near a copy of New York can read the article online. (I probably don't have to tell you this, but: skip the comments. Come back here and tell us what you think.)