Newly elevated Cardinal Dolan a hot topic during Sunday services

WEST ALLIS -- Former Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy Dolan was elevated to cardinal Saturday in Rome, and Sunday, he and 21 other cardinals were honored at a mass in Vatican City.

Pope Benedict led mass Sunday at St. Peter's Basilica, and Dolan stood at the altar. He's now Cardinal Timothy Dolan, one of the 125 who serve as close advisors to Pope Benedict, and will eventually choose his successor.

In West Allis Sunday, parishioners celebrated the Eucharist at mass, and though it's the last mass before the Lenten season begins, the talk wasn't about fasting or giving things up. Instead, parishioners were talking about Dolan - the man some call "the American pope." "I wish there would be more clergy like Cardinal Dolan," one parishioner said. "He's compassionate, and he's forgiving, and he is certainly thinking about everyone in the church," another parishioner said.

At a time of scandal and shrinking numbers in the Catholic church, some people feel Cardinal Timothy Dolan could be the man to get people back to the church. "His sense of humor, I think, is so vital for what is going on in the church," one parishioner said. "He has a great future ahead of him, and there's a lot of committee assignments, and a lot of things he will partake in in New York and in Rome and around the world that will influence the Catholic church for years to come," another parishioner said.

Others said they feel Cardinal Dolan could even be a good candidate for the first American pope.

Cardinal Dolan will be back in Wisconsin soon. He's scheduled to celebrate mass on April 28th at the Basilica of Holy Hill, starting at 4:30 p.m.