Dolan Speaks . . . Some

New York Archbishop Timothy Cardinal Dolan returned from vacation Tuesday and promptly began addressing the church’s latest scandal. At least, we hope it’s just the beginning, because his flock needs to hear more.

In his regular Sirius XM show, the cardinal voiced the horror that all Catholics feel about the new revelations about abuse in Pennsylvania and the ugly history of ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. But he has yet to address shocking charges from Archbishop Carlo Maria Vaganó.

He was good as far as he got: “When people say to me, ‘You know, we’re angry, we’re confused, bewildered, frustrated,’ I think they might expect me to be on the defensive,” Dolan noted. “And I’ll say, ‘Nice to meet you. So am I.’ We’re all in this together.” Amen.

And Dolan stood firmly by the investigators who substantiated shocking decades-old child-abuse allegations against McCarrick — charges the archdiocese forwarded to the Vatican in June, prompting McCarrick’s fall.

Yet he also distanced himself, saying he didn’t even read the McCarrick report before sending it on: “If the DA, the independent investigators and my review board have found this substantiated, that’s all I need to know.” Really?

And perhaps Dolan thinks that Houston’s Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, the head of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, has already said what’s needed about Vaganó’s naming of several top church officials as McCarrick enablers — namely, that the allegations “deserve answers that are conclusive and based on evidence.” But it would be good to hear New York’s archbishop say so.

We understand that Dolan is in a delicate position, having arguably triggered the entire McCarrick crisis. He may well be taking a much stronger stance in conversations with his fellow bishops, and with Rome.

But, as Sohrab Ahmari puts it on the opposite page, “Cardinal Dolan’s booming voice has sounded muffled when it comes to the biggest questions.” We pray he’ll speak more loudly before long.