NEW YORK
The New York Times

By SAM ROBERTS

Published: May 5, 2012

Nobody calls the cardinal’s residence on Madison Avenue “the Powerhouse” anymore. Mayors no longer consult regularly with the church about appointments to the health and Education Departments, police promotions or Family Court vacancies. Nor has any recent leader of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York been called “the American Pope,” as one predecessor was.

But while decades of demographic changes have cost the archdiocese much of its political clout, it does have the newly appointed Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan to its credit. He is personable, persuasive and politically astute, and has an even bigger bully pulpit as president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, which has been battling the Obama administration, with some success, over whether religiously affiliated hospitals and universities should have to provide free birth control for employees.

Still, the church…