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,.