The New York archdiocese is “among the largest in the nation, serving roughly 2.5 million Catholics”, and tomorrow it will have a new archbishop.
The Bishop of Joliet, Illinois, Ronald Hicks, has been named the archbishop-designate and will be officially installed on February 6, 2026.
Hicks will be replacing the previous archbishop, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who has held the position since 2009. As required when he turned 75, Dolan submitted his resignation in February of last year. Now 76 years old, he will retain his red hat and conclave voting powers until his eightieth birthday.
After nearly 17 years, Cardinal Dolan presided over his final Mass as archbishop last Sunday.
This transition is said to represent a “significant new chapter for the US Catholic Church”, as Hicks is considered to be more progressive than his predecessor. In November 2025, Hicks was among those who endorsed a message from the “US Conference of Catholic Bishops condemning the Trump administration’s immigration raids”. In a message to Catholics across the US, Hicks said the condemnation “affirms our solidarity with all our brothers and sisters as it expresses our concerns, opposition, and hopes with clarity and conviction. It is grounded in the church’s enduring commitment to the Catholic social teaching of human dignity and a call for meaningful immigration reform”.
Hicks grew up in South Holland, Illinois, very close to where Pope Leo XIV lived. He spent over 5 years leading a church-run orphanage program in El Salvador. The program operated in “nine Latin American and Caribbean countries”. He then served as a parish priest in Chicago before being appointed as vicar general of the archdiocese by Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich in 2015. He was made auxiliary bishop three years later. Pope Francis then named him bishop of Joliet, Illinois, in 2020.
Hick shared that he had visited New York many times before being named the next archbishop, saying, “I love the culture, the food, the energy, the plays, the neighborhoods, but especially, I love the people… from all over the world who call this place home”.
Hicks shared his plans ahead of the events, saying, “[St. Patrick’s Cathedral] is the parish of America, the church of America…God has to be in the center of everything”.
He continued to explain, “One of my focuses is going to be evangelization. How do we actually be disciples who make disciples?”
He will start in his new role tonight, leading the Evening Prayer (Vespers) at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in Midtown Manhattan at 5 pm. The next day, Hicks’ installation Mass will begin at 2 pm, also at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
Scriptures, psalms, and gospels will be read and Holy Communion given, as is typical of a Catholic Mass. Additionally, there is to be a reading of the papal letter of installation. Some of the ceremony will be performed in Spanish, in an effort to show the importance of including the Latino community, according to Hicks.
“I’m excited, and I’m humbled to be installed as the 11th archbishop of the Archdiocese of New York,” Hicks said about the planned events.
