Bishop Hicks began his Episcopate as an Auxiliary to Archbishop Cupic in Chicago. Leo is looking more and more like Francis 2.0.
From Aleteia
By Christine Rousselle
Cardinal Dolan has led the archdiocese since 2009. Like Pope Leo, the new archbishop is an Illinois native and has experience in Latin America.
Bishop Ronald Hicks of Joliet will replace Cardinal Timothy Dolan as the Archbishop of New York, the US bishops' conference announced December 18.
Cardinal Dolan, 75, submitted his resignation to Pope Francis on his 75th birthday in February, as required in canon law. While a bishop must submit his resignation upon turning 75, it is not always immediately accepted by the pope.
Cardinal Dolan has led the Archdiocese of New York since 2009.
Leo’s relative speed in replacing Dolan in New York is a reflection of a recent speech he gave to the Italian Bishops Conference. In that speech, Pope Leo warned against “inertia, even when motivated by good intentions, to slow down the necessary changes.”
He then went on to say “it is good to respect the rule of 75 years for the conclusion of the services of Ordinaries in dioceses, and, only in the case of Cardinals, may a continuation of ministry be considered, possibly for another two years.”
While the New York archbishop is also a cardinal, the Holy Father seemed to be referring to cardinal duties that could be extended, not the leadership of (arch)dioceses.
In comparison, Pope Francis waited until Cardinal Wilton Gregory of Washington was 77 years old before replacing him with Cardinal Robert McElroy in 2025; Gregory himself replaced Cardinal Donald Wuerl in 2019, when Wuerl was 78 years old.
Rumors that Bishop Hicks would be replacing Cardinal Dolan began swirling on Monday, with some outlets reporting that the announcement could come as soon as Tuesday, December 16. While that failed to happen, those rumors picked up steam throughout the day, and it was expected that the announcement would be made on Thursday, December 18.
Who is Bishop Ronald Hicks?
Hicks, 58, is a native of Harvey, Illinois. He was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago on May 21, 1994, and in 1999, he was named the dean of formation at St. Joseph Seminary in Chicago.
In 2005, Hicks moved to El Salvador with permission of his bishop, Cardinal Francis George, and spent five years there as the regional director of Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos, an organization caring for orphaned and abandoned children in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Upon his return to the United States in 2010, Hicks was the dean of formation at Mundelein Seminary, and was appointed as the vicar general of the archdiocese in 2015.
In 2018, Hicks was announced as a new auxiliary bishop of Chicago, and he was ordained a bishop on September 17 of that year.
On July 17, 2020, Hicks was announced as the new bishop of the Diocese of Joliet, Illinois.
In the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, he serves on the Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations, and is the conference’s liaison to the Association of Ongoing Formation of Priests and the National Association of Diaconate Directors.
Pictured: His Lordship Ronald Hicks, Bishop of Joliet & Archbishop Designate of New York
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