Ballwin Native Ascends to Cardinal Status

As previously reported by Patch, the St. Louis native who served the Catholic archdiocese as its auxiliary bishop in 2001 was named one of the church's newest cardinals by Pope Benedict XVI in January.

Timothy M. Dolan, was born in St. Louis, attended church as a youth at Ballwin's Holy Infant Roman Catholic Church and "began his high school seminary education at St. Louis Preparatory Seminary South in Shrewsbury,"according to the New York archdiocese website. He has been the archbishop of New York since February 2009.

Saturday, Pope Benedict XVI presided over the ceremony in St. Peter's Basilica to formally create the 22 cardinals, including Dolan. The men will eventually elect the 84-year-old pontiff's successor. 

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Dolan's family members with St. Louis ties traveled to Rome to watch the ceremony.

As previously reported by Patch, Dolan's cousin-in-law, the Reverend Pamela Dolan, is rector at Town and Country's Church of the Good Shepherd. She previously told Patch she learned of the original news of Dolan being named Cardinal while watching NBC's TODAY Show. She said it was an exciting moment for his entire family.

"In a way, I was thinking we've all been expecting it. I think it was inevitable, with him being arch bishop of New York and being such a talented leader, but we weren't expecting it today," Pamela Dolan previously told Patch. "My husband and I, we were both just excited and delighted for him, delighted for the church. I think everyone in St. Louis is excited. He's a hometown boy."