Meet Archbishop Dolan's broadcaster brother

Another Dolan is making his mark on the Church — this one, from behind microphone.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Vince Lombardi was the unofficial pope of Green Bay, and Mike McCarthy is a good Catholic boy.

And while there is no tangible evidence that God is a Packers fan, it can’t hurt to fill the pews on Super Bowl Sunday.

Maybe the efforts of local broadcaster Bob Dolan will help, too. Former WISN-AM (1130) radio host Dolan already had an in with the Big Guy; his brother is New York Archbishop and former Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy Dolan. But since it is unknown whether his Excellency has since become a born-again New York Giants fan, maybe Bob Dolan’s recent work for EWTN, the Roman Catholic cable channel, will sway celestial opinion toward the Green and Gold.

Dolan, 54, was a sportscaster at WTMJ-TV (Channel 4), announced Marquette basketball games and, after stints in Corpus Christi, Texas, and Green Bay, co-hosted a topical – “but with entertainment and humor” – morning show on WISN-AM with Jay Weber.

Dolan left that show in 2007 because, he said, “the time of life was perfect for something new.” And having just turned 50, he was “still young and healthy enough to take a swing and see what happens.”

He formed Dolan Productions, and started doing video and voice-over work, often for corporate clients. His first project was 30 episodes of a travel show with his wife, Beth, that aired for 2 1/2 years on WISN-TV (Channel 12).

And “when that dried up,” Dolan said, “I was forced to find other video projects.”

Enter Eternal World Television Network, EWTN, which presents mostly Roman Catholic programming, including rosaries, Masses and reruns of shows by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen and Mother Mary Angelica, who founded EWTN in 1981.

“Their audience is very old,” said Dolan. “It’s grandma and grandpa.” They, he said without irony, “watch it religiously.”

However, new management has begun to “upgrade and modernize their programming . . . to give them a fresh look and younger audience,” Dolan said.

Two specials filmed by Dolan, and airing in May, are part of that push.

Both were filmed at the North American College in Rome, “where bishops send their best and brightest seminarians.” One called “Rookies in Rome” is about six seminarians approaching priesthood. The other, “Hours to Ordination,” follows six – including Milwaukeean Father Luke Strand – about to be ordained.

Archbishop Dolan, who happened to be in Rome at the time of filming, was a former rector and student at the college, and appears in the shows.

While his brother’s name is obviously well-known in Roman Catholic circles, he had nothing to do with the EWTN work, Bob Dolan said.

“I don’t bring him up unless he’s brought up for me,” he said. “I don’t want jobs because of who my brother is.”

Read the rest here.