Pope Leo XIV has named Bishop Aldon Ronald Hicks as the next archbishop of New York, appointing a fellow Chicago-area native with extensive experience in Latin America to one of the most influential posts in the Roman Catholic Church in the United States.
Bishop Hicks, 58, will succeed Cardinal Timothy Dolan, 75, who is retiring after more than a decade leading the New York archdiocese.
Dolan, widely regarded as a conservative voice with close ties to President Donald Trump, praised the appointment, calling it “an early Christmas gift” for New Yorkers.
Hicks said he accepted the role, announced on Thursday, “with an open heart,” as he prepares to lead one of the Church’s largest and most prominent archdioceses.
Last month, Hicks joined other Catholic bishops in condemning the Trump administration’s large-scale immigration arrests, criticizing the policy as part of a broader mass deportation agenda.
Hicks’ background closely mirrors that of Pope Leo XIV. He grew up in South Holland, Illinois, just a short distance from the pope’s childhood neighborhood of Dolton, a suburb of Chicago.
Like the pope, Hicks also spent significant time serving in Latin America. While Pope Leo worked as a missionary in Peru for two decades, Hicks served at an orphanage in El Salvador from 2005 to 2010, according to a biography released by the Archdiocese of New York.
In 2020, Hicks was appointed bishop of Joliet by Pope Francis. His elevation to New York now places him at the center of the Catholic Church’s leadership in the United States.
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