‘A Hero’: Catholic Cardinal Hails Charlie Kirk as ‘Modern Day St. Paul’
Cardinal Timothy Dolan hailed Charlie Kirk as a “modern day Saint Paul” as he praised the conservative activist as a “hero” and “evangelist.”
Kirk was assassinated on September 10 during a public speaking event at Utah Valley University.
The cardinal, who serves as the Archbishop of New York and recognized by many as the most high-profile Catholic figure in the U.S., admitted that he did not know who Kirk was and had only learned about the activist in the past week.
Appearing on Fox & Friends on Friday, Dolan told the hosts that he now considered Kirk a “modern day Saint Paul” – comparing him to the figure often considered to be one of the most important early church evangelists.
I was caught off guard and that doesn’t happen too much. So when I heard the tragic news I said ‘I wonder who he was’ and then all of a sudden this overwhelming sense of sorrow and renewal, and I thought, I got to learn about this guy.
The more I learned about him, I thought, this guy is a modern day St. Paul. He was a missionary, he was an evangelist, he was a hero. He’s one, I think, who knew what Jesus meant when he said the truth will set you free. Now to do it, I understand he was pretty blunt and was pretty direct. He did not try to avoid any controversy, he didn’t even try to avoid confrontation.
The difference is the way, the mode, the style that he did it – always with respect. And not only was that a gracious virtuous thing to do, it is effective. When your opponents see, this guy kinda respects me. We kinda disagree here, but he kind of enjoys me and he’s thanking me for being here and he’s telling me he appreciates the trust I have in him in sharing my views, I thought, this guy can teach us something. I’ve been spending the last week reading about him.
Dolan’s interview came the same day he published an editorial in the New York Post pleading for Americans to “make peace” in the wake of the shooting through “conversation” and commended Kirk as a “tireless advocate” for “dialogue.”
Watch above via Fox News.
