He previously served as rector of the Pontifical North American College in Rome from 1994 to 2001, as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of St. Louis from 2001 to 2002, and as Archbishop of Milwaukee from 2002 to 2009.

Dolan was ordained a priest at Holy Infant Church on June 19, 1976, for the Archdiocese of St. Louis by Auxiliary Bishop Edward O'Meara.

[10] He received his episcopal consecration on August 15, 2001, from Archbishop Justin Rigali, with Bishops Joseph Naumann and Michael Sheridan serving as co-consecrators.

[18] According to radio station WTAQ news, "An attorney says at least 8,000 kids were sexually abused by over 100 priests and other offenders in the Milwaukee Catholic Diocese.

In an outdoor mass in September 2002, Dolan briefly wore a "cheesehead" hat during his homily in tribute to the Green Bay Packers football team.

According to Dolan, Apostolic Nuncio Pietro Sambi notified him by phone of his appointment in New York "nine, ten days" prior to the official announcement.

[26] Dolan said that when he was appointed auxiliary bishop of St. Louis and archbishop of Milwaukee, he was told on the phone that John Paul II "would like [him] to" take the posts.

[27][28] However, Dolan downplayed such speculation, saying, "Anytime there's kind of a major see that opens, what have we seen with Washington, Baltimore, Detroit, now New York, my name for some reason comes up.

"[29] John L. Allen Jr., Vatican correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter, noted that Benedict XVI's appointment of Dolan followed his pattern of choosing prelates "who are basically conservative in both their politics and their theology, but also upbeat, pastoral figures given to dialogue.

"[30] In an interview with the Associate Press before his installation, Dolan pledged to challenge claims that the Catholic Church was unenlightened due to its opposition to same-sex marriage and abortion.

[33] Dolan received the pallium, a vestment worn by metropolitan bishops, from Benedict XVI on June 29, 2009, in a ceremony at St. Peter's Basilica.

[35][36] Dolan served as chair of the board of directors of Catholic Relief Services, in which capacity he visited Ethiopia and India, until his election as USCCB president.

The report said that the staff were "critical about any emphasis on Rome, tradition, the magisterium, piety or assertive orthodoxy, while the students are enthusiastic about these features".

[44] On January 24, 2012, Dolan went on a religious pilgrimage to Israel and the West Bank, where he met the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Fouad Twal.

[47] On September 3, 2014, Dolan denied requests by the Diocese of Peoria to receive the remains of Archbishop Fulton Sheen, who had been entombed in St. Patrick's Cathedral since his death in 1979.

[48] On November 17, 2016, Judge Arlene Bluth of the New York State Supreme Court ordered the archdiocese to transfer the remains to Peoria.

On May 13, 2017, he celebrated a requiem mass when John Curry, the youngest witness to the Knock apparition, was re-interred in St. Patrick's Old Cathedral cemetery in Lower Manhattan after being disinterred from an unmarked grave on Long Island.

[67] On June 2, 2020, Dolan spoke on his podcast about the protests and police actions following the 2020 murders of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia, along with the 2020 shooting of Breonna Taylor in Louisville.

The Declaration called for Christians to commit acts of civil disobedience against laws allowing same-sex marriage and abortion rights for women.

[71][72] In October 2017, Auxiliary Bishop John O'Hara, acting on Dolan's behalf, stopped St. Mary Parish in the Archdiocese of New York from hosting the International Human Rights Art Festival.

"[75]In 2002, Archbishop Justin Rigali of St. Louis assigned Dolan to investigate priests accused of sexual misconduct in the archdiocese.

[11] In a 2003 letter to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Dolan requested that the Vatican expedite the laicization of priests whom he believed were "remorseless and a serious risk to children".

"[77] In May 2012, The New York Times revealed that the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, then headed by Dolan, had paid some abusive priests up to $20,000 to resign the priesthood immediately rather than wait for the Vatican to laicize them.

[78] In 2011, Dolan thanked Bill Donohue, leader of the conservative group Catholic League, for a press release that was reproduced on the Archdiocese of New York website.

They showed that Dolan, then archbishop of Milwaukee, in 2007 had sought permission from the Vatican to shield $57 million in church funds from victims lawsuits.

In the letter, Dolan wrote "By transferring these assets to the trust, I foresee an improved protection of these funds from any legal claim and liability.

"[77][80] Dolan had previously denied shielding assets from child sex abuse victims claiming compensation, calling the accusations "old and discredited" and "malarkey.

"[82]In 2019, the Washington Post reported that Dolan, along with some other American prelates, had received substantial cash gifts from Bishop Michael J. Bransfield, which he took from investments owned by the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston.

"[84]In July 2020, according to an NCR report, Ignatius Press sent copies of the book The Next Pope: The Office of Peter and a Church in Mission, by conservative author George Weigel, to all 222 cardinals.

The publishers included a copy of a letter from Dolan, stating: "I am grateful to Ignatius Press for making this important reflection on the future of the Church available to the College of Cardinals.