In a significant appointment for the U.S. Church, Pope Leo XIV has tapped Bishop Ronald Hicks of Joliet, Illinois, to replace Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, whose resignation was accepted by the Holy Father on Dec. 18.
Archbishop Hicks, 58, has spent most of his life in Illinois, including as a priest. He has led the Diocese of Joliet since 2020 and previously served as an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Chicago from 2018 to 2020.
Currently, he also leads the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations, which is tasked with addressing issues related to the life and ministry of bishops, according to the USCCB.
“New York is rich in energy, languages, cultures, and people,” Archbishop Hicks said at a press conference. “As excited as I am to get to know the city and the archdiocese and all who call this home, I’m also very aware that these are complex and challenging days, especially as we face issues of life, faith, justice, peace, and healing.”
Bishop Robert Brennan told The Tablet that he doesn’t know Archbishop Hicks well except through the USCCB. “But,” Bishop Brennan noted, “he has a stellar reputation among bishops in general. I hold him in high esteem.”
“I’m going to miss working with Cardinal Dolan,” Bishop Brennan added. “Cardinal Dolan was a great person to work with. But I also look forward to working with now Archbishop-designate Hicks who will takeover in the early part of the year.”
Archbishop Hicks will be installed on Feb. 6.
Cardinal Dolan, 75, has led the Archdiocese of New York since 2009. Known for his affable nature, he has been an outspoken voice on Catholic issues impacting both the city and country. At the national level, he served as president of the USCCB from 2010-2013, and previously led the USCCB’s Committee for Religious Liberty.
Cardinal Dolan said he gave Archbishop Hicks the same advice his predecessor, Cardinal Edward Egan, had given him.
“New York is a warm, welcoming city. They will love you, and you will come to love them,” Cardinal Dolan said at the press conference. “That worked, and I love New York. I love this archdiocese. I’ve enjoyed working with all of you.
“That was the advice given to me, to try to do that. I took it, and I’m grateful that I did, and I eagerly pass it on to my beloved successor.”
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Notably, Cardinal Dolan steered Catholic New Yorkers through the COVID-19 pandemic and traveled to Ukraine in 2022 to meet with victims, refugees, and relief workers, offering prayers and support. This past May, President Donald Trump appointed him to the Presidential Commission on Religious Liberty.
Born on Aug. 4, 1967, in Harvey, Illinois, to a Catholic family, Archbishop Hicks attended Catholic grade school and graduated from Quigley Preparatory Seminary South in 1985. However, he recently said it was a specific moment at the family dinner table that led him on his path to the priesthood.
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Speaking on the Diocese of Joliet’s Faith Into Action podcast on Nov. 20, he recounted a family debate over whether the Eucharist is a symbol or truly the body, blood, soul, and divinity of God. While most of his family — including himself — said it was a symbol, he recalled his father saying, “It absolutely is the real body and blood of Christ.”
“That was the time of my conversion. As I listened to my father, who I loved and respected, if this man and the way that he lived his faith said those words with such conviction, I listened to him, and I was converted,” Archbishop Hicks said. “If he believes that, then I believe that.”
Following preparatory seminary, Archbishop Hicks received a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Niles College of Loyola University in Chicago in 1989, and both his Master of Divinity degree in 1994 and his Doctor of Ministry degree in 2003 from the University of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, Illinois.
He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Chicago in 1994. He served multiple pastoral roles at parishes in the archdiocese until 1999, when he was appointed dean of formation at St. Joseph College Seminary in Chicago.
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In 2005, Archbishop Hicks moved from Chicago to El Salvador to serve as regional director of Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos — a home that cares for more than 3,400 orphaned and abandoned children in nine Latin American and Caribbean countries.
Archbishop Hicks returned to Chicago in 2010 and served for four years as the dean of formation at Mundelein Seminary. Then, in 2015, Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago appointed Archbishop Hicks as vicar general for the archdiocese, and he was subsequently appointed auxiliary bishop in 2018.
After his appointment to Joliet, Archbishop Hicks focused on the pastoral aspect of his new role, telling the Chicago Catholic that he was “excited to get to know [his new flock] and for them to get to know me also.” He also noted how the Diocese of Joliet is “diverse in geography and in people and places.”
Speaking on the Faith Into Action podcast, he noted that, as he’s tied up with the responsibilities of being a bishop, he hopes to inspire the faithful to serve their community as best they can.
“I’m not doing hands-on things as much, but what I want to do is inspire others to do it,” he said. “Where I struggle is, I’d like to be weekly at a soup kitchen. Instead, I’m there only a few times a year. It’s where we are at a particular time in life.”
At the press conference, Archbishop Hicks addressed several issues affecting both the Archdiocese of New York and the national Church.
Regarding the archdiocese, he said he is “committed to learning about the issues before our Church, including the funds the archdiocese has set aside to help resolve sexual abuse claims.” The archdiocese recently announced that it is selling the land beneath the New York Palace hotel for $490 million, and its former headquarters on First Avenue for about $100 million to fund clergy sexual abuse payouts.
“While this work is challenging, it’s difficult, it’s painful, I hope it will continue to help in the areas of accountability, transparency, and healing,” he added.
Nationally, Archbishop Hicks touched on immigration, saying he is proud of the USCCB’s statement on immigration published at its recent general assembly.
“[It’s a] necessity to make sure we have a country that does protect our borders and keep our laws,” he said. “I think that’s right, and also be a country that upholds human dignity, respect, treating each other well, and making sure that anything connected to these policies are connected to due process.”
The Diocese of Joliet comprises 4,218 square miles in Illinois and has a total population of more than 1.9 million, of which more than 560,000 are Catholics, according to figures from the USCCB.
The Archdiocese of New York, meanwhile, is one of the nation’s largest archdioceses. It covers 4,683 square miles in the State of New York and has a total population of more than 5.4 million, of which more than 1.5 million are Catholic, according to the USCCB.