Archbishop Ronald Hicks will take over as the 11th archbishop of New York on Feb. 4, 2026.

The timeline that follows is a look at his early and pastoral life to date.

Aug. 4, 1967 

Ronald Aldon Hicks is born in Harvey, Illinois, to Ronald and Roselee Hicks. He has a younger brother, Rick, and grew up in South Holland, Illinois — one suburb over from Dolton, where Pope Leo XIV grew up. 

May 21, 1994 

Archbishop Hicks is ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Chicago.  

1994-1996  

Serves as an associate pastor at Our Lady of Mercy Parish in Chicago.  

1996-1999  

Serves as an associate pastor at St. Elizabeth Seton Parish in Orland Hills, Illinois. 

1999-2005 

Lives and ministers at St. Joseph College Seminary in Chicago as the dean of formation. 

July 2005  

Moves from Chicago to El Salvador to begin a five-year term as regional director of Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos (NPH) in Central America — a home that cares for more than 3,400 orphaned and abandoned children in nine Latin American and Caribbean countries. 

2010-2014  

Returns from El Salvador and serves as the dean of formation at Mundelein Seminary. During that time, he also assists with weekend Masses at St. Jerome Parish in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood.  

Jan. 1, 2015 

Appointed vicar general for the Archdiocese of Chicago by Cardinal Blase Cupich.  

Sept. 17, 2018 

Ordained an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Chicago at the Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago.  

July 17, 2020  

Named the sixth bishop of the Diocese of Joliet, Illinois, by Pope Francis.  

Dec. 18, 2025 

Named the 11th archbishop of New York by Pope Leo XIV, succeeding Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who had been at the helm since 2009.