True to form, at his first news conference as Archbishop of New York, held this morning before this afternoon’s installation Mass, Timothy Dolan was humorous, enthusiastic, engaged and–not swinging at every pitch. While many might see him as a “throwback” to Cardinal O’Connor, Dolan is actually a good deal more nuanced in his remarks. If O’Connor didn’t make the front page of The New York Post, you’d wonder if he was feeling okay.

Not Dolan. Pressed on the same-sex marriage bill Gov. Paterson will introduce in Albany tomorrow, Dolan demurred: “We bishops aren’t into politics, we’re into principles.”

When pressed, he elaborated somewhat:

You can bet I would be active and present and I hope articulate in this particular position. Being still very new, my first day on the job, I would be eager to sit down with trusted advisers within this archdiocese like Bishop Sullivan and say: Tell me what we’ve done in the past. Tell me what’s worked. Tell me what is the best way to communicate the sentiments of the church on controversial moral issues, and this isn’t the only one… I wouldn’t be hesitant to talk about that in the future. I am, if you don’t mind my saying it, confessing it, hesitant to talk about it today… It might not be too appropriate to get into the particularities of some of these controversial issues…. I hope I can be more forthcoming in the future.

He also punted on a question about a statute of limitations bill in Albany that has been hugely controverial as it would open a one-year window for victims to sue the Catholic Church, in the main.

Again, the new archbishop of New York deflected the question:

This is an area where I gotta listen. I understand my brother bishops in the state of New York have already been rather clear in addressing this issue. I appreciate what’s been done. I would anticipate I would be a partner and, after today, a leader, in that. If there’s going to be any change in that, if there’s going to be anything new in that, it’s a little premature for me to say. Something tells me, Paul, I’ll be eager to speak out on that issue in the near future. It might not be the best for me to say anything today.

I have to believe he will speak out, and not in favor of the main bill, but likely an alternate. And I am sure he will get some tabloids headlines in the near future. But he’s also here to build up the church, draw people into a community of faith–a point he was again eloquent on–and help newcomers, the immigrants, in the city.

The NYT’s City Room blog has a good running account of the newser here.