Bishop Ronald Hicks, a Pope Leo XIV ally from Chicago, appointed Archbishop of New York, replacing retiring Cardinal Dolan.
Newsroom (18/12/2025 Gaudium Press ) In his most significant U.S. appointment since becoming the first American pope, Pope Leo XIV on Thursday named Bishop Ronald Hicks, a fellow Chicago native and current bishop of Joliet, Illinois, as the next archbishop of New York. The move positions a close ally of the pontiff to lead one of the nation’s largest and most influential archdioceses at a time of heightened tensions with the Trump administration over immigration policy.
Hicks succeeds Cardinal Timothy Dolan, a prominent and gregarious conservative voice in American Catholicism, who is retiring after reaching the mandatory age of 75. Dolan’s departure comes just days after he finalized a landmark $300 million fund to compensate victims of clerical sexual abuse who had filed claims against the archdiocese.
The timing of the handover reflects the Vatican’s customary caution in major diocesan transitions. Bishops are required to submit resignations upon turning 75, but Rome frequently delays acceptances until lingering issues—such as abuse litigation or governance matters—are resolved by the outgoing leader. In this case, Dolan’s completion of the compensation plan cleared the path for the change.
The appointment marks a pivotal moment for the U.S. Catholic Church under Pope Leo XIV, himself born and raised in the Chicago area. Both the pope and the American hierarchy have demonstrated a readiness to confront the Trump administration on immigration and related issues. Observers describe Hicks as emblematic of a “Leo-style” bishop—aligned with the pontiff’s pastoral priorities and likely to continue that confrontational stance.
Hicks, 58, brings deep ties to Chicago’s ecclesiastical leadership. He served as a parish priest in the city and later as dean of formation at Mundelein Seminary. In 2015, Cardinal Blase Cupich—widely regarded as a progressive figure and a key adviser to both Pope Francis and now Pope Leo XIV—appointed him vicar general of the Archdiocese of Chicago. Hicks was elevated to auxiliary bishop in 2018 and named bishop of Joliet in 2020 by Pope Francis, where he has overseen approximately 520,000 Catholics across seven counties.
Cupich’s influence appears central to the appointment; insiders suggest Hicks’ elevation to such a high-profile role would likely have required the cardinal’s strong endorsement.
The Archdiocese of New York stands among the country’s largest, serving roughly 2.5 million Catholics across Manhattan, the Bronx, Staten Island, and seven northern counties. Its archbishop traditionally wields considerable national influence.
Dolan, appointed to New York by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009 and elevated to cardinal in 2012, has been one of the most visible U.S. Catholic leaders. He served as president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops from 2010 to 2013 and maintained a robust public presence in the nation’s media capital.
Politically, Dolan has often aligned with conservative viewpoints, notably in a 2018 Wall Street Journal column titled “The Democrats Abandon Catholics.” Yet he has also shown openness on social issues, welcoming LGBTQ+ participation in New York’s St. Patrick’s Day parade and issuing a 2023 letter supporting outreach programs for LGBTQ+ Catholics at Fordham University.
Dolan’s relationship with the Trump administration has been notably warm. As archbishop, he hosted the annual Al Smith Dinner, a major Catholic charity event that in 2024 featured only President Trump after Vice President Kamala Harris declined to attend. Trump later invited Dolan to pray at his inauguration and appointed him to a new Religious Liberty Commission. Reports earlier indicated Dolan was among Trump’s preferred candidates to succeed Pope Francis, though Dolan publicly criticized the president for sharing an AI-generated image depicting Trump as pope ahead of the conclave that elected Leo XIV.
For Hicks, one immediate priority will be implementing the newly established abuse compensation fund. Financed through budget cuts and asset sales, it aims to resolve most of the approximately 1,300 pending claims against the archdiocese.
Hicks is familiar with the church’s abuse crisis. In 2023, an Illinois attorney general’s investigation criticized historical handling of abuse across the state’s dioceses, documenting 451 clergy members who abused nearly 2,000 children from 1950 to 2019. While the report praised Joliet’s current child protection policies under Hicks—who assumed leadership in 2020—it highlighted past failures by predecessors to address allegations properly.
Born August 4, 1967, in Harvey, Illinois, and raised in nearby South Holland—just one suburb from Pope Leo XIV’s hometown of Dolton—Hicks has a varied pastoral resume. From 2005 to 2010, he directed Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos homes in Central America, overseeing care for over 3,400 orphaned and abandoned children across nine countries.
Currently, Hicks serves on the U.S. bishops’ conference Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations, and as liaison to national associations for priest formation and diaconate directors.
The selection of Hicks for this pivotal role is expected to draw intense scrutiny, offering potential clues to the direction Pope Leo XIV envisions for the American church in an era of political polarization and ongoing reckoning with past scandals.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Crux Now and CNA
Related Images:
