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A few weeks ago, we wrote a post entitled "Cuomo's Women's Equality Act Brings The A-Word To New York State Politics." The headline basically tells the whole story.

It focused on the brewing controversy evoked by a tiny stipulation in Cuomo's new bill that calls for writing Roe v. Wade protections into state law - an immediate reaction to anti-abortion provisions being enacted in statehouses across the country. It's the only part of a ten-point bill that's aroused widespread opposition, led by Senate GOP leader Dean Skelos of Long Island. Because, duh, it's abortion.

In New York, Republicans' frustration on social issues is only surpassed by the Catholic Church, which holds a firm stance against abortion. So this should be no surprise: Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the man who informed his followers in 2009 to totally disregard federal and state abortion laws, is not a fan of the Women's Equality Act.

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Earlier today, the Voice brought you news that Cardinal Timothy Dolan paid pervert priests up to 20 grand as "incentive" to get them to leave their posts when he ran the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

Here's the thing: Dolan, according to Catholic law, might not have been doing anything wrong in authorizing this payoff. In fact, the canon might characterize this decision as being "a good Christian."

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When Cardinal Timothy Dolan ran the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, he said OK to paying pervert priests up to 20 grand as "incentive" to get them to leave their posts.

A report in the New York Times, using info from that Archdiocese's recent bankruptcy filings, notes that Dolan gave the greenlight for payments: "to sexually abusive priests as an incentive for them to agree to dismissal from the priesthood."

Back then, he vehemently rebuffed any and all allegations of doing anything like that, calling such claims: "false, preposterous and unjust." Alas, a spokesman for Milwaukee told the newspaper that payments did take place so priests wouldn't contest defrocking, a process known as "laicization."

Now, there seem to be a couple of problems involving the policies of America's top Roman Catholic cleric.

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American nuns have been helping poor and sick people too much, so the Vatican has appointed a strict supervisor to the Leadership Conference of Women Religious to make these liturgical ladies behave.

And as the Voice reported yesterday, the Conference has since shot back at the Church, slamming Catholic leadership for failing to address longstanding concerns over child molestation. They're protesting today in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral, and hope that their pray-in will prompt Cardinal Timothy Dolan to demand a retraction from the Vatican.

But this isn't the first time in recent history that nuns have openly rebelled against the church.

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The Vatican thinks that nuns are wasting their time on human rights and social work -- you know, typical helpful nun stuff.

Instead, the Catholic Church wants America's nuns to spend more time doing things that don't typically help people, like telling them not to have premarital sex, according to USA Today.

That group of nuns -- the Leadership Conference of Women Religious -- has shot back at the Vatican, and is planning to protest in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan on Tuesday. They want Cardinal Timothy Dolan to ask the Vatican to take back this criticism.

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This Easter Sunday was not free from politics and controversy for Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who in addition to giving a sermon at Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral today, appeared in a segment that aired on CBS' Face The Nation. In the interview Dolan weighed in once again on the nation's contraception debate and the president's coverage mandate. "I don't think religion should be too involved in politics," he said. "But I also don't think the government and politics should be overly involved in the church. And that's our problem here. You've got a dramatic, radical intrusion of a government bureaucracy into the internal life of the church. That bothers me."

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It's Cardinal Timothy Dolan Week (no, really), and the conservative Catholic leader has certainly not let the eponymous 7-day shindig go to waste.

Dolan made the rounds in Albany on Monday, where he and other top Catholics made clear their anti-abortion and anti-pedophilia prosecution positions.

The church top honcho emphasized his opposition to the Reproductive Health Act, which basically makes state policy "up to date" with Roe V. Wade.

("America's Pope" said that the pedophilia measure, which would extend the statute of limitations for sexual abuse cases, would irreparably drain church coffers.)

If you were a little confused why New York -- a state with very pro-choice policies -- would still be debating abortion, not to worry.

Though the Empire state was the first in the union to decriminalize pregnancy terminations and remains one of the most pro-choice places in the U.S., reproductive health advocates want to fix a few legal loopholes that might undermine choice.

Runnin' Scared has put together a very brief guide explaining what this is about.

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New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan has arrived in Rome, NY1 reported, after leaving from JFK International Airport last night. The flight was the first set in Dolan's journey to be elevated to cardinal. The New York Daily News caught Dolan as he was leaving his St. Patrick's residence yesterday evening. "I can taste the pasta already," he said. Aside from eating, Dolan has official duties to attend to in Rome before the ceremony in St. Peter's Basilica Saturday. According to the New York Post, he will speak Friday at the Vatican on the subject "the topic of new evangelization to ensure people living in European countries steeped in the Catholic tradition remain faithful." He will also be "interrogated by the pope -- in Italian -- in front of all current cardinals."

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New York's Catholic organizations have found themselves at the forefront of church news recently, as a controversial healthcare provision is fought over in heated public debate with the president.

In January, President Obama signed into law a federal regulation which would require employers to cover contraception in their health insurance plans, even if they are religious organizations. When the Catholic Church complained, Obama proposed a compromise based on an existing New York state law, and now local Catholic charity groups and women's health organizations find themselves at the center of the most recent birth control debate.

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We're sad to say that another institution has vetoed allowing same-sex couples at prom. This time it's St. Anthony's, a co-ed Catholic high school in South Huntington, Long Island. Angelina Lange, a 17-year-old at the school, asked for permission to bring an ex-girlfriend as her date, and school officials vetoed her request, saying "It would send a mixed message to OK her request." Thus, instead of grasping an opportunity to encourage acceptance, the school issued a perfectly clear message: The only acceptable couples are heterosexual.

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