Cardinal Timothy Dolan has a new calling. The former archbishop of New York will soon serve as co-chaplain of the NYPD, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch is expected to announce on Tuesday.
According to sources familiar with the appointment, the announcement will come during Tisch’s State of the NYPD address on Feb. 10, and will see Dolan and Reverend A.R Bernard, who founded Christian Cultural Center megachurch in Brooklyn, named as the department’s co-chaplains.
Tisch said she was seeking one quality when it came to finding the right people to lead the religious unit: “Righteousness.”
“As I was thinking about who should fill this role, one Hebrew word kept coming to mind — “Tzadik,” a person of righteousness,” Tisch said. “Cardinal Timothy Dolan and Reverend A.R. Bernard are two of the most righteous people this City has ever known. They are two men of incredible faith whose life and leadership embody the moral clarity, compassion, and wisdom our officers rely on in their hardest moments.”
Last week, Dolan handed over the reins of St. Patrick’s Cathedral to Archbishop Ronald Hicks during a historic ceremony attended by thousands, including NYPD Chief of Department Michael LiPetri. Pope Leo XIV appointed Hicks to lead the 2.8 million Roman Catholics in the Archdiocese of New York after accepting Dolan’s mandatory resignation last year upon turning 75.
Yet even at 76, Dolan won’t be retiring from public service in the city, according to the commissioner.
Meanwhile, Bernard is an esteemed religious leader in his own right with an estimated 37,000 members of his church. Both men will be assigned to lead the NYPD faithful on a part-time basis. The NYPD chaplain provides religious guidance to thousands of uniformed members.
“For decades, they have helped shape the spiritual life of this city through leadership that reaches far beyond their pulpits. Their decision to serve the NYPD speaks to something enduring between faith and policing, and to the place the Chief Chaplain role has long held in the lives of the men and women who wear the shield,” Tisch added.
