By Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan
Thanks so much for still considering me part of the family of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee by asking that I join you in toasting our own Cardinal James Michael Harvey on the golden jubilee of his priestly ordination.
I’ve known him since Sept. 1, 1972, when I arrived as a “new man” at the North American College in Rome, there to be welcomed by Jim, a year ahead of me.
From that day, I have cherished his friendship, and admired his sharp sense of duty, his joy, his loyalty and his steadfastness.
Cardinal Harvey’s priestly ministry has been unique in that he has spent his half-century in direct service to the Church universal and her pastor, the Successor of St. Peter, our Holy Father, the Pope.
In some, such a service turns a man into a haughty, ambitious functionary. But not this Milwaukeean, who has never forgotten his roots, his family, his friends and his conviction that all priestly ministry is pastoral, sharing in the eternal priesthood of Jesus, the Good Shepherd.
“I thought I was going to be in a parish all my life, and I wanted to be,” our jubilarian will tell you. Well, as I tell him, “You have been! The Church universal has been your parish, the Holy Father your pastor and you a parish priest!”
If you see him in action now, with the fancy title of “Cardinal Archpriest of the Basilica of St. Paul Outside-the-Walls in Rome,” you’ll see him as a parish priest: greeting pilgrims, preaching well, hearing confessions, offering Mass and encouraging the sick and the troubled. As he observes, “I finally get to be a parish priest.”
Thank you, Cardinal Harvey, for being one these past five decades.
Thanks, Archdiocese of Milwaukee, for sharing him with the entire Church!
Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, Archbishop of New York, served as Archbishop of Milwaukee from 2002 – 2009.
