Cardinal Dolan compares Charlie Kirk to Saint Paul

Cardinal Timothy Dolan has praised Charlie Kirk as a “modern-day Saint Paul” and described the assassinated conservative activist as a “hero” and “evangelist".

Appearing on the Fox & Friends TV show on 19 September, the cardinal, who serves as the Archbishop of New York and is one of the most high-profile Catholic figures in the US, admitted that he did not know who Kirk was until the 31-year-old was shot dead with a single bullet on September 10 during a public speaking event at Utah Valley University.

Dolan explained to the show's hosts that subsequently, after investigating who Kirk was and learning more about him, he now considered Kirk a “modern-day Saint Paul” – comparing Kirk to one of the most important figures and evangelists in the early Church.

“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 [there was] this overwhelming sense … this overwhelming sense of sorrow and kind of renewal – and I thought, I got to learn about this guy," Dolan told his hosts.

“The more I learned about him, I thought, this guy is a modern-day Saint Paul. He was a missionary, he’s an evangelist, he’s a hero. He’s one, I think, that knew what Jesus meant when he said, ‘The truth will set you free.’ And to do it – now, I understand he was pretty blunt and was pretty direct. He didn’t 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, kind of 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 was made the same day he published a comment article in the New York Post pleading for Americans to “make peace” in the wake of the shooting and to address the issue of whether new forms of media, especially social media, “engender violence in our hearts, minds, and souls”.

RELATED: Charlie Kirk’s murder and reactions to it indicate a society in moral freefall

Photo: Archbishop of New York, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, meets media after Mass in the the northern outskirts of Rome ahead of the conclave following the death of Pope Francis, Rome, Italy, 4 May 2025. Photo by Franco Origlia/Getty Images.)

‍