Former Milwaukee Archbishop Dolan takes Today Show inside Rome, Vatican
VATICAN CITY - NBC's Today Show had a familiar tour guide on its trip to Rome, Italy and the Vatican: former Milwaukee and current New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan.
The Archbishop played a gracious host to NBC's Matt Lauer, both on the streets of Rome and inside the Vatican's greatest treasures.
"Everything (in the city) is built to rise up," claimed Dolan.
"You talk about Jesus keeping his promises. This is fulfilling His promise He made to Peter: 'Upon you I will build My church.'' "
The visit included a private tour of St. Peter's Basilica, but that wasn't the highlight of the trip.
Lauer was afforded a rare opportunity, an audience with Pope Benedict XVI with Dolan as his escort.
Lauer: "Do you have a message for the people in America?"
Pope Benedict XVI: "Confidence in God and continue in the faith of Christ," said the Pope.
It wasn't all smiles and pleasantries.
The Archbishop addressed some tough questions about the future of the Catholic Church, including one about why so many Catholics have left the Church.
"I think some of them are leaving because of scandal," explained Dolan. "I think some are leaving because of materialism, and temptations outside the life of any faith."
"They're on one side or the other. THey think the Catholic Church is modernized too much. Others may be leaving because they think it hasn't modernized enough."
Dolan was recently elected the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, making him the highest ranking American in the Catholic Church.
Despite his dramatic and quick rise to power, Dolan still seems very much like the same man who left Milwaukee just a few years ago.
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