Cardinal Calls for Prayer and Dialogue to Combat Rising Political Violence

| 09/19/2025

By: The Good Newsroom

The Archbishop of New York encouraged focus on issues rather than personal attacks

Caption: Cardinal Timothy Dolan speaks at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on September 18, 2025.
Caption: Cardinal Timothy Dolan speaks at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on September 18, 2025. Photo by Steven Schwankert/The Good Newsroom.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan urged Americans to embrace prayer and respectful dialogue as antidotes to the escalating political violence plaguing the nation, in an op-ed published Wednesday in The New York Post.

“What’s the solution? Is there a solution? ‘Blessed are the peacemakers,’ Jesus tells us in the Sermon on the Mount, ‘for they will be called children of God.’ How do we make peace?” the Archbishop of New York wrote.

Cardinal Dolan’s message comes in the wake of multiple high-profile attacks, including assassination attempts and targeted killings that have shocked the country.

In the opinion piece titled “In wake of Charlie Kirk killing, we must stop this hatred and acrimony,” the cardinal emphasized that dehumanizing rhetoric creates a dangerous climate that can lead to real harm.

“It is a most dangerous, and sometimes literally deadly idea that other people are not worthy of our respect, whether it be a newly arrived immigrant, an unborn baby in her mother’s womb, an elder in the last stages of life, a person of another race or faith, or even a member of a different political party,” Cardinal Dolan wrote.

Rather than focusing on political differences, the cardinal called for a spiritual approach to healing national divisions.

“If we can approach God in such a manner and do so consistently, maybe we can begin to approach other people as His sons and daughters, with humility, mindful that the imperfections we might perceive in others are, at the very least, just as present in ourselves,” he wrote.

Cardinal Dolan encouraged Catholics to focus on issues rather than attacking individuals and to turn to prayer as a path toward national reconciliation.

Read the full op-ed here.

"It is of the utmost importance that we work to ensure that every life, in every stage and circumstance, is protected in law," said Bishop Thomas.

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The Good Newsroom

| 09/19/2025

Archbishop of New York encourages focus on issues rather than personal attacks.

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The dialogue hosted an event at The Catholic University of America on September 8-9.

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