Whispers in the Loggia vaticanista Rocco Palmo has flagged a credible report out of Italy that says Archbishop Timothy Dolan will be appointed as the new Archbishop of New York.

The source of the report is Paolo Rodari, who Palmo describes as “the well-sourced Vatican correspondent for the Italian daily Il Riformista.”

Rodari said that Pope Benedict XVI has selected Archbishop Dolan to succeed Cardinal Edward Egan of New York. Cardinal Egan reached the mandatory retirement age of 75 for bishops in April 2007, but has remained on as the shepherd of New York at the request of the Pope.

Our own Rome correspondent Edward Pentin first broke the news that a replacement for Cardinal Egan was imminent — and that Archbishop Dolan was the likeliest successor — in a report he filed Jan. 29 for Newsmax.

Neither Edward not Paolo Rodari can be regarded as the authoritative sources on the matter, of course. But while only a formal Vatican announcement will confirm the speculation definitively, Palmo has an exceptional track record when it comes to sifting the wheat from the chaff regarding Vatican rumors.

So New Yorkers shouldn’t be surprised if Archbishop Dolan is indeed named as the Big Apple’s new Archbishop in the near future.