October 8, 2023

Here in Rome, the city is safe, quiet, and reverent this Sunday morning of the Christian sabbath.

From here in Rome, my heart goes out to the assaulted people of Israel, and to our Jewish community, whom we cherish as friends and neighbors back home in New York, realizing with tears that their sabbath yesterday was anything but peaceful.

A secure and safe home, surely intended by God for all His Children, wherever they may be. To have that home attacked is a sacrilege; to defend that home is righteous.

To the urgent appeals of Pope Francis this Sunday; to the pleas of my brother bishops back home in the United States; to the concerns and condolences of those brothers and sisters gathered here in Rome for the synod of bishops, I sure add my own.

  †Timothy Michael Cardinal Dolan

   Archbishop of New York