Mayor Mamdani’s no show at Archbishop Roland Hicks’ installation last week wasn’t his only snub of the city’s 2.5 million Catholics.
Muslim Mayor Mamdani, who has long been fending off antisemitism accusations, took his first jab at the church when he appointed trans activist Ceyenne Doroshow to his inaugural committee, critics note.
St. Patrick’s Cathedral accused Doroshow of duping theminto hosting a “sacrilegious” funeral for transgender activist Cecilia Gentili in February 2024, just as Lent was starting. She was honored by pals as “St. Cecilia, mother of all whores,” and eulogized by 1,000 rowdy mourners wearing miniskirts and fishnet stockings.
“The Cathedral only knew that family and friends were requesting a funeral Mass for a Catholic, and had no idea our welcome and prayer would be degraded in such a sacrilegious and deceptive way,” Rev. Enrique Salvo said in a statement at the time.
Doroshow, for her part, demanded the church “apologize for the decades of degradation and hate you have put on our community,” at a subsequent news conference.
Mamdani “not only wants nothing to do with Catholics,” he hires “vile anti-Catholic bigots,” Catholic League President Bill Donahue told The Post, referring to Doroshow.
Also insulting to the city’s Catholics was that fact that no Catholic priests spoke at Mamdani’s inauguration or at his interfaith breakfast.
The breakfast, established in 2002 by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and held at the New York Public Library, traditionally hosts leaders of the city’s many faiths. Last year, Monsignor Kevin Sullivan and Father Ryan Muldoon attended the breakfast hosted by Mayor Eric Adams, and Muldoon delivered the invocation.
“I wish I could say I’m surprised, but Communism knows no faith,” said Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Queens), who is Catholic. “He’s already shown his disdain for our Jewish neighbors, and now he is showing it for Catholics as well. Little by little, the mask is starting to slip, and we are seeing who this mayor really is — and what he really thinks about New York’s faithful.”
Mamdani skipped out on Hicks’ Feb. 6 installation, with a City Hall spokesperson saying he had a scheduling conflict. It was the first time in nearly 100 years that a NYC mayor missed an archbishop’s installation.
Hicks, 58, took over the reins of New York’s Archdiocese from Cardinal Timothy Dolan, making him NYC’s 11th archbishop since 1850.
“I am grateful for [Mamdani’s] candor in making clear to New York’s Catholic community that he has no respect for their faith and is no friend of theirs. This way, they know where they stand with him and his administration,” Princeton Professor and Catholic intellectual Robert George told The Post.
A representative for the Archdiocese of New York told The Post that Mamdani and Hicks later met at the State of the NYPD address Tuesday and the two later spoke on the phone. Mamdani’s press secretary Joe Calvello said the mayor and the holy man discussed pizza.
“They discussed their shared values and hopes to work together for the betterment of the people of this city. Additionally, the Mayor and the Archbishop discussed pizza — deep dish versus the dollar slice, with the mayor recommending Koronet as a great place to go,” Calvello said.
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