Breaking News: Cardinal Dolan to Give Closing Benediction at GOP Convention

I haven’t weighed in on the Al Smith controversy. Both sides make good arguments, but my hope is simply that we can do everything possible to maintain Catholic unity going into November and that, because Obama’s invitation to the dinner can’t be taken back at this point, we should make the best of it and learn lessons from it if we can.

That said, critics of Obama’s appearance at the Al Smith dinner should be happy to find out that Cardinal Dolan has consented to give the closing benediction at the GOP Convention in Tampa right after Mitt Romney gives his acceptance speech on the same stage.

The news came out during an exclusive interview Raymond Arroyo conducted with Mitt Romney which is set to air tonight at 8PM on EWTN (the Associated Press evidently did not have to abide by the embargo but I’m trying to as best I can).

I’m very curious to see how that interview goes, and to see what Cardinal Dolan says in Tampa, but here’s my take: in 2008 when Barack Obama won I predicted there would not be a good relationship between the White House and the U.S. Bishops during the Obama administration, and that proved to be true.

I now predict that if Mitt Romney wins the White House in 2012 there will be a very healthy relationship between a Romney administration and the U.S. Bishops, led by a close working relationship between Cardinal Dolan and President Romney. That’s all I say. But I think that means a lot when compared to what we have now.

UPDATE: By the way, what a contrast between conventions, huh?