New York magazine is out with it’s lengthy profile of newly installed Gotham Archbishop Timothy Dolan. I’d agree with the magazine’s headline — “Charm Offensive” — but also its subhead: “If anyone can repair the church’s image, it’s Timothy Dolan.”

I’d also wager that if there’s ever going to be an American elected pope (which is HUGELY unlikely), Dolan would fit the bill. Charming, orthodox, down-to-earth with a fairly strong record as a fixer and doer. Of course he’d have to become a cardinal first, but that’s probably not long in the offing.

Dolan, or rather the magazine, dives right into the controversy over same-sex marriage, and Dolan seems to signal support for domestic partnerships, though he won’t actually say so himself. Here’s a blurb about why the archbishop of New York matters beyond Manhattan:

It can’t be easy being leader of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York-expected to play creative defense on every issue that offends the sensibilities of the church, in a city closer to Sodom than to Eden. Yet there may be no religious posting in the United States as prominent or powerful, even today. True, much of the job, which involves serving some 3 million Catholics in 400 parishes from Staten Island to the Catskills, is administrative and ceremonial: There are budgets to balance, schools to run, Masses to lead. Nor is New York the largest American archdiocese; that honor goes to Los Angeles. Even so, the New York position is akin to being American pope.

(RNS photo by Greg Shemitz)