New York's newly elevated Cardinal Timothy Dolan says he wants to be a saint.

Dolan made the comment while celebrating his first Sunday Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral since returning from Rome.

He said his new aspiration came to him when he and other cardinals were asked to ratify a list of candidates for sainthood.

He told his congregation it made him realize that "this isn't about the red hat" or being a cardinal. Rather, he said, "this is about being a saint."

Dolan said he wanted to "bring as many people to sainthood" with him as he could.

But he added: "I got a long way to go, all right."