Pope Leo XIV on Thursday (Dec. 18) named Bishop Ronald Hicks of Joliet, Illinois, as the next archbishop of New York, his most significant US appointment since becoming America’s first pope and signaling a major shift in the leadership of the American Catholic Church.
Hicks, 58, will replace Cardinal Timothy Dolan, a leading conservative voice in the US hierarchy who has led the New York archdiocese since 2009.
The Vatican said Dolan, who turned 75 this year, had offered his resignation in accordance with church law. He will remain as interim leader until Hicks is installed on February 6.
The appointment puts a relatively low-profile cleric at the helm of one of the country’s most powerful Catholic institutions at a sensitive time, as the church navigates strained relations with the Trump administration over immigration policy and faces financial fallout from clerical abuse settlements.
The Great American Meeting
The Archdiocese of New York serves about 2.8 million Catholics in Manhattan, the Bronx, Staten Island and the seven surrounding counties, comprising 296 parishes along with hundreds of schools, hospitals and social service institutions.
Leo’s decision to replace Dolan comes as the archdiocese struggles to collect more than $300 million to settle claims from survivors of clerical abuse. The archdiocese has entered into mediation with approximately 1,300 alleged survivors and has already announced a 10% cut to its operating budget, layoffs and the sale of church property to finance the expected payouts.
Hicks’ background and views
Hicks leads the Diocese of Joliet as of 2020, serving roughly 520,000 Catholics in seven Illinois counties. He previously worked closely with Chicago Cardinal Blas Cupich, first as Vicar General and later as Auxiliary Bishop.
His background in several ways mirrors that of Pope Leo. Both grew up in the south suburbs of Chicago and spent years as missionaries in Latin America. While Leo spent two decades in Peru, Hicks worked for five years in El Salvador, where he ran a church-supported orphanage program that operates in nine countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
In November, Hicks endorsed a statement by US bishops condemning President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration and calling for “compassion and justice” for migrants. However, in an October pastoral letter to Catholics in Joliet, he largely avoided political issues and urged the faithful to focus on prayer and evangelization.
Shift from Dolan
Dolan, who was elevated to cardinal in 2012 after being named archbishop of New York, is widely regarded as one of the most prominent conservatives among American bishops. He served as president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops from 2010 to 2013 and delivered the invocation at Trump’s second inauguration, later praising right-wing activist Charlie Kirk as a “modern-day Saint Paul.”
Although considered Trump’s favorite to replace Pope Francis, Dolan also criticized the president for sharing an AI-generated image of Trump dressed as the pope ahead of the conclave that elected Leo.
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