ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - For the first time since his elevation, the Archbishop of New York returned to his hometown of St. Louis over the weekend.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan had a baptism and first communion in his family, as well as a Mass of Thanksgiving with the St. Louis Archdiocese.

“There’s something in St. Louis, a cohesion, a loyalty, a joy in Catholic identity. I tell you, I haven’t seen anything like it elsewhere,” he said.

During a Sunday morning news conference, Cardinal Dolan reflected back on his days growing up in a Ballwin neighborhood, where his family’s parish was more than just a place to worship and attend school, “It was sort of the center of our lives socially and culturally. The neighborhood jelled together and almost made Catholicism part of the air I breathe.”

Archbishop Robert Carlson made a surprise announcement at the close of Sunday’s Mass. The St. Louis Archdiocese is creating a Chair of Church History in Dolan’s name at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary.