Pope Leo names Bishop Ronald Hicks as Archbishop of New York

Pope Leo names Bishop Ronald A. Hicks, Diocese of Joliet, as Archbishop of New York

Bishop Ronald A. Hicks, 58, will succeeed Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan as Archbishop of New York.

Pope Leo accepted the resignation of Cardinal Dolan on Dec. 18, when the Vatican announced Hicks as successor. On Feb. 6, Dolan turned 75, the age at which canon law requires bishops to submit their resignation.

In 1994, Hicks was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Chicago. From 1996 to 1999,he was an associate pastor at Our Lady of Mercy parish in Chicago and at St. Elizabeth Seton in Orland Hills, Illinois. From 1999 to 2005, he was appointed dean of formation at St. Joseph College Seminary, Chicago. From 2010 to 2014, he was dean of formation at Mundelein Seminary.

In 2015, Hicks was appointed vicar general of the Archdiocese of Chicago and, in 2018, he was ordained an auxiliary bishop. On September 29, 2020, Hicks was ordained Bishop of the Diocese of Joliet, Illinois, which includes Chicago southern suburbs, extending into near-central Illinois. The Archdiocese of New York is the second-largest diocese in America with 2.5 million Catholics, five times the size of Joliet.

Cardinal Francis E. George, then-archbishop of Chicago, granted permission in 2005 for Hicks to move to El Salvador for a five-year term as regional director of Nuestros Hermanos in Central America. The agency cares for more than 3,400 orphaned and abandoned children in nine Latin American and Caribbean countries.

Hicks shares three notable similarities with Pope Leo: They are both from Chicago, both attended Quigley Preparatory Seminary, and both served in missionary ministry in Latin America.

Photo credit OSV News

— Paulette Peynet