Cardinal Dolan defends Catholic schools remaining open amid COVID-19, expresses concern over a memo calling on President-elect Biden to pursue a 'secular agenda' in office, and shares his Christmas message on 'Fox & Friends.'
This is an unofficial transcript meant for reference. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
But we will move on to another
subject, as students around the
country face remote schooling
and closures,
catholic schools doing just the
opposite
committed to doing whatever it
takes to remain open,
Griff. Here with more on their
plan, archbishop of New York,
Timothy Cardinal Dollan good
morning to you, sir, and merry
Christmas
good morning, blessed
Christmas
delighted to be with you.
How are Steve and Ainsley and
Brian?
Are they all right
PETE? They are still sleeping
cardinal
good for them.
Im jealous,
they usually send me over an
eggnog. Whenever im on an
interview,
you guys didnt, get the memo
laughter,
its nice to be with you PETE
and Griff and Katie
Good Morning, and a pleased
Christmas,
its food to be with you,
Griff Good, to be with you,
the eggnog we sent has bourbon
in it. So you will be delighted
when it arrives.
Well, you did get the memo
laughter,
PETE, okay, good
laughter,
PETE Cardinal, we have got to
ask you. Catholic schools have
remained open and you have been
at the forefront of that
whats. The reason for that take
and how have you fought back
against those who say? Thats,
unsafe, you are putting kids and
teachers at risk.
We are not getting much feed
pack.
The opposite is that we are
getting a lot of accolades and
im glad
its about time that the
community recognized the gem
that we have got in our beloved
catholic schools,
its very important to have our
kids in school.
Everybody is saying that this
remote learning nice try,
probably the best we could do in
a tough situation,
its not working that well,
we have got to get our kids back
in the classroom.
The parents want it. The
teachers want it, the principals
it
my priests, want it.
The community wants it.
Look. The experts tell us its
the Safestiest healthiest place
for kids to be
im amazed at the scrupulous you
will, sanitation they are doing,
and the testing and everything
so its the safest place are to
the kids to be, and you know
what everybody
when I was a kid thanks be to
God. If we got a snow day, my mom
was home
these days the kids dont have:
where are they going to go?
So we are also helping the
parent and the wider community,
because, if the kid arent in
school, they cant go to work and
they get more and more in to
debt.
It seems a no brainer that our
schools are open and successful
and safe as they can be
Katie Cardinal Dolan, looking to
other schools safely.
What are you doing to make sure
that parents and teachers and
children feel safe inside of
their schools?
Well, for one we are doing
the testing okay,
even though, by the way the city
isnt paying for it,
even though the law says that
all school kids need to be
tested, but we are saying this is
important.
We will have to dig deeper into
pockets that are already
depleted.
The testing are the extensive
sanitation after school every
day
I visited some of these schools
and to see the wipe, downs and
the sprays never throw the
social distancing and the masks
and number five. Our teachers are
trained to kind of coach, the
kids into healthy habits,
not only to avoid this plague
but to live healthy, productive
lives.
This is a good occasion when the
kids are particularly attentive,
heres. The problem, though-
and we do admit this-
the problem is not in the
schools.
The problems are whats
happening after school and on
weekends,
so were constantly reminding
our parent look. We have done
our best to keep your kids safe
but rate. Now, if you start
running into big crowds and if
you start not wearing masks and
not sanitizing its not going
to help us
so thats kind of the
challenge
but heck, we all got that one
will
PETE Cardinal Dolan, I want to
look into next year. Go forward
a little bit.
I want to ask you: how concerned
are you about? We have already
some democratic lawmakers.
Wanting the incoming President
Biden to push are for a more
populist agenda, rolling back, see
on the screen. The memo on calls
on Biden to pursue this secular
agenda.
How concerned are you that it
will undo many of the gains made
with regards to religious
liberty?
I am concerned,
I appreciate you asking
look. We never get a perfect
president.
We all know that
there were very. There were
very good things that President
Trump did that I applauded him
for, and I let him know it.
There were also areas that I had
pretty grave disagreements.
Im trusting thats going to be
the same with President Biden.
Is he going to do some things
that we pastors are going to be
able to say well done,
but is he going to da some
things that scare us
you just mentioned it?
I hope he is not there. I hear a
lot of his advisers and some of
the people that he is appointing
tend to want to love into this
more aggressive, secular world
view that religion needs to be
pushed to the side, that
religious, that religion is
very private. You know and the
american wisdom. Religion is
very personal, but its not
private.
If we cant bring our deepest
convictions to the public
square, the whole common good is
at a loss,
so we dont need to push
religion and belief and faith
and conscience to the side.
We need to be protecting it,
which is, if I understand
correctly, the role of our
government
PETE yeah. You too, understand
correctly
its not just the Democrat
secular Democrats of America,
its also a free thought caucus
of Democrats in the house trying
to push this disup entangling
reframe discourse surrounding
patriotism.
I think Cardinal one of the
key differences with catholic
education. There is a core
mission.
There is a shared faith,
the Bible history, that
everyone is motivated by and
they want to open those doors
that is so important that makes
the ethos of those places dinner
than a lot of our public schools,
which are shut right now or
virtual.
But I want to get you can
speak to that or we want to get
your Christmas message as well
either one
all right,
I couldnt, have said it better.
Thanks for what you just said
about our schools,
what we say in our catholic
schools is look faithed are
God virtue, character, honesty,
hard work, love and service of
others,
the Bible prayer? These are as
important as math and science
and reading
okay
thats, a great message to the
kids.
If you send kids to school and
say you are going to get
everything you need for a good
life in school and if they
never hear about God or prayer
or virtue or faith uh, oh,
they are going to get the
message that this isnt all that
important okay
thats, the jeepous of not just
catholic schools, but any of the
independent schools that are
based in religion be just
conviction as by the way all of
american schools used to be
okay,
PETE Correct
Christmas message, as we look
ahead to the new year folks,
dont forget to look in the rear
view, mirror
its very often in the rear view,
mirror that we see gods action
in our life
the year. That is ending a lot
of adversity, a lot of sadness,
a lot of set back and heartache
okay.
But when we look back, we are
also going to express gratitude
and praise to God that he got us
through
and that he inspired sacrificial
generous people to come through
when we needed it most.
We are going to see his hand
there
and we are going to see his hand
in twenty twenty one
thats the message of Christmas,
because to borrow from our
jewish neighbors Emanuel God
is with Us
Katie Cardinal Dolan. You know
there are a lot of people having
a hard time holding on to faith
right now, given the year that
they have had,
they are having a hard time,
seeing the light at the end of
the tunnel.
What is your message to those
struggling a little bit with
their current situation, given
all of the hardships of the past
year?
Sure Katie,
a lot of people are saying boy.
What a tough Christmas! This is
im lonely, im isolated. I
cant be with the people that I
love
and what I would say to them and
im giving you just a little to
my midnight mass homily.
You know the first Christmas at
Bethlehem.
That was no parade right.
That was no marshmallow. That
was tough.
You had a woman with a troubled
pregnancy, just married
traveling, an arduous journey to
Bethlehem.
They had no family nearby,
they didnt even have a
comfortable room or
professionals to help them with
the birth of their child.
Recall will remember surrounded
by animals in the middle of a
cold night.
That was the rosiest of
christmases okay.
Yet it has the message of
salvation and joy.
So, very often in the midst of
tribulation, in the midst of
adversity, in the midst, where we
kind of realize that a lot of
stuff is missing in our life, we
even got people for whom people
are missing because they have
gone to the Lord through Covid.
We realize that there is only
one person that can fill that
void: okay
and thats, the Lord
and, if thats the. If we
hammer home that message,
Hallelujah
Griff Cardinal Dolan, I had the
honor of being with you in New
York last year on Christmas Day
and hear your message, and now
you are giving us a little bit
of a preview of what you may be
saying there. We are with you
great wonderful experience that
I will never forget,
but I kind of want to ask you
now, as you approach your
message this year, we got a
little preview there did you
have to approach it differently
because of what we have gone
through?
I did Griff.
I did
im. Thinking. Look are midnight
Mask Christmas morning, Mass
Beloved Saint Patricks
Cathedral. I look at standing
room only
I look out at beaming faces.
I look at families and
grandparents, United and im
thinking Dollan. You are not
going to see that this year,
okay,
first of all, you are going to
see a church that is two thirds
empty. By necessity.
We understand that we want to
obey these very safe procedures.
Number two. You are going to
see families that have been
fractured because grand that and
Grand PA brothers and sisters
cant be together. This year
you are going to see some people
who may not be beaming with a
smile as they think back at the
people who have been sick or
jobs lost or people that they
have handed over to eterpt.
Is that not the message Griff?
That Christmas comes at the
darkest tomb of many time of
the year.
You guys covered it a day or so
ago, shortest day the day with
the least light in the entire
calendar,
its precisely, then, all right
that God sent his only begotten
son to bring us life to remind
us that life goodness are
going to have the last word,
not darkness and not sin, and not
evil
and thats. The message of
Christmas,
so pardon me, but we need a
little Christmas right. This very
moment
it are
PETE. Yes, we do
Timothy, Cardinal Dolan. Thank you
so much for your message.
You send some more of this
eggnog and I will be singing
well at midnight.
Okay,.
Transcript generated on 2020-12-23.