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So how do pro-lifers know the new Archbishop of New York is one of us? Well, one way is to read the snarky New York Times headline describing Pope Benedict XVI's appointment of Archbishop Timothy Dolan: "Dolan seen as Genial Enforcer of Rome's doctrine." (You don't have to even bother to read the story, which is as snide as it is ungenerous.)

But a better (and more accurate) route is to ask Barbara Lyons, executive director of Wisconsin Right to Life. (Dolan had been Milwaukee Archbishop.)

Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan, left, and Edward Cardinal  Egan celebrate mass.

"He quickly established himself as a strong advocate of the sanctity of Life in Milwaukee and Wisconsin," Lyons said. "For the past six years, Archbishop Dolan served as a Trustee of Wisconsin Right to Life's Veritas Society mass media program which airs television ads to touch hearts and minds to value human life and to reduce the number of Wisconsin abortions.   Archbishop Dolan also promoted the Veritas Society program through his appearance as a featured speaker at fundraising events.

"Our hearts are saddened by the loss of his tremendous and inspirational leadership in Wisconsin for the cause of life.  We rejoice that he will bring those same dynamic qualities to a national audience." Obviously Milwaukee's loss is New York's gain.

Dolan, 59, will replace Edward Cardinal Egan, who is retiring after nine years. Dolan will be formally installed on April 15.

Speaking of the ways newspapers handled Archbishop Dolan's elevation to the highest-profile position in the U.S. Catholic Church, there is this opening sentence from his hometown newspaper, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan, whose gregarious pastoral style endeared him to a Catholic community in need of a morale boost, was named archbishop of New York this morning."

The newspaper gave ample space to Dolan's critics. But it also pointed out his many accomplishments. They include the personal: "…an openly devout bishop with a sharp intellect"; "A church historian who speaks three languages and reads three more"; and a man who "nevertheless developed a reputation for speaking plainly to his flock, whether it was asking them to return to the practice of making confession or to give to his annual fund appeal."

Dolan is also praised for "working to heal and reinvigorate the local church, home to 682,000 Catholics," drawing "accolades for his support of Catholic schools, priests and seminarians." In addition, according to the Journal Sentinel, "Church officials say he has taken steps to improve the archdiocese's financial position."

For single-issue pro-lifers, another powerful piece of evidence is the op-ed Archbishop Dolan wrote last fall for the Journal Sentinel. Titled, "How can anyone be silent on this key civil rights question?" it can be read in its entirety at http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/32482989.html.

In his essay, Dolan writes about the almost comically inept version of the Catholic Church's historic doctrine on abortion perpetrated by two pro-abortion Catholics-- House Majority Nancy Pelosi and then Sen. Joseph Biden. When several prominent bishops publicly corrected their bungling interpretations, someone wrote to the paper complaining (in Dolan's characterization) that the "bishops are out of bounds in clarifying the truth of their faith on this issue."

Dolan unflinchingly made the point that church tradition is clear "that bishops are the authentic teachers of the faith and the obligation to correct their errors." Thus, "[W]hen prominent Catholics publicly misrepresent timeless Church doctrine - as Biden and Pelosi regrettably did (to say nothing of erring in biology!) - a bishop has the duty to clarify." And clarify he does.

Dolan makes an additional crucial point; "Even more significantly, when all is said and done, abortion is hardly a religious issue at all. Women and men of every religion, or none at all, express grave reservations about our abortion-on-demand culture, insisting that it is not a theological matter but a civil rights one."

This opinion piece is very much worth reading. Again, you can do so by going to http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/32482989.html.

Congratulations go out to the 2.5 million Catholics of the Archdiocese of New York.