Cardinal Timothy Dolan this morning made his first trip to The Bronx since getting elevated at the Vatican over the weekend.

Catholics in Longwood attended a Mass led by Dolan at the St. Vincent de Paul Senior Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, which is operated by the Catholic Health Care Network.

Organizers say Dolan has been committed to keeping the center open since becoming the leader of the New York Archdiocese.

After the Mass, Dolan dedicated and blessed the new ArchCare PACE Center, which serves nursing home-eligible seniors who prefer to live on their own. Several similar centers will open over the next three years in the New York area.

"This will allow us to keep our elders home," Dolan says. "It's the wave of the future."

As part of its recently announced health ministry expansion, the archdiocese hopes to serve 50 percent more disabled and elderly people by 2014.