Fireside Chat, Interview
Archbishop of New York Timothy Dolan and Lloyd Blankfein: Talks at GS Session Highlights
- The Archdiocese of New York anticipates a financially solvent future following the merger of Catholic schools and expects a net investment of $392 million over the last 10 years to sustain fewer but higher-quality parishes and schools.
- Resources previously allocated to empty institutions will be reallocated to address declining faith retention, fund poverty relief, support education, and improve healthcare services, with the expectation that reallocating these funds will help win back those no longer considering themselves faithful Catholics.
- The church plans to merge parishes and close schools, a process involving a two-year period of consultation, viewing these painful but necessary steps as essential for future community health.
- Future operations will rely on financial counselors to enforce sound prudential business rules, ensuring resources are managed wisely while maintaining the "deposit of faith" intact.
- The Archdiocese expects to win back people leaving the Catholic faith by investing resources previously spent on empty parishes into outreach and community support.
- The church aims to balance clear doctrinal expectations with compassion, particularly regarding pastoral challenges surrounding marriage indissolubility and same-sex attraction, to avoid driving people away.
- There is an expectation to nurture religious freedom against federal government intrusion, a legal battle currently ongoing in the courts.
- The institution plans to adapt to modern communication trends by becoming "savvy" about technology and new channels to reach younger generations who do not consume traditional media, acknowledging that technological shifts happen rapidly.
- The church intends to focus on its main work of turning people to God and eternity rather than solely addressing moral questions, while allowing the "spark of the divine" within people to attract others.
- The outlook includes integrating the "deposit of faith" with modern adaptation to create a "fresh and compelling" message for future decades, balancing authenticity with the preservation of integrity.
- There is an expectation that the current openness initiated by Pope Francis allows for rethinking and renewal without causing a "tornado" that destroys the church's structural integrity or tradition.
- The church expects to thrive on diversity, viewing itself as a universal and all-embracing institution that is living in the present and future rather than being bound by the past.