Pope Leo replaced Cardinal Timothy Dolan as leader of the Catholic Church in New York, the Vatican announced yesterday, sidelining a prominent US Church figure in a major shake-up of the country’s Catholic leadership.
Leo, the first US pope, appointed a relatively unknown cleric from Illinois, Bishop Ronald Hicks, to replace Dolan as leader of the nation’s second-largest Catholic diocese, home to some 2.8 million Church members.
Dolan, Archbishop of New York since 2009 and a former president of the US Catholic bishops’ conference, offered to resign in February upon turning 75, as required by Church law. Cardinals often serve until 80, the mandatory retirement age.
“Hicks represents not just a new chapter for New York but for the American church as a whole,” said David Gibson, a US Church expert.
At a Press conference in New York a few hours after the Vatican’s announcement, Hicks, 58, gave some remarks in Spanish before speaking in English. He said he has a “great heart” for the Latino community as a former missionary in Latin America.
Hicks also repeated an earlier endorsement of the US Catholic bishops condemnation of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
He said the US should protect its borders but “also be a country that upholds human dignity, respect, (and) treating each other well”.
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