A friend, Kathleen Gallagher, who is director of Pro-Life Activities for the New York State Catholic Conference, was present at the Mass and said that the archbishop's message of hope "was palpable."
"You could reach out and touch it. The women were clearly moved," she said, noting that the new Archbishop of New York made the women "feel loved and special and cared for." One woman gave him a painting she had made and another wrote him a poem.
"He was warm and witty and prayerful and genuine. He said he wanted to visit a prison early on because 'I'm your Archbishop, too.' He said, "I knew you couldn't come to see me, so I wanted to come to see you,' " Gallagher recalled.
Archbishop Dolan told the women that when he dies, God will not ask him what he wore or what he drove or what seats he had at Yankee Stadium, but rather, He will ask him if he ever gave him food when he was hungry or visited him when he was in prison.
Gallagher said that the "best part of his homily" was when Archbishop Dolan told the inmates that they should never feel alone because 2,000 years ago Jesus was arrested and imprisoned and suffered a cruel and horrifying death by capital punishment and knows what they're going through.
After the Mass, the archbishop visited ill inmates at the medical unit and went to the nursery to bless the babies of the women inmates.
"It was a faith-filled, uplifting day for me, so I am sure it was doubly so for the inmates and the correctional officers and staff," said Gallagher, who attended the Mass with prison chaplains from the region. "Archbishop Dolan's obvious joy in his chosen vocation and his Catholicism is downright contagious."
For another take on the archbishop's prison visit, check out Gary Stern's post at Blogging Religiously by clicking HERE.
