Pope Leo XIV Accepts Resignation of Cardinal Timothy Dolan of the Archdiocese of New York; Appoints Bishop Ronald Hicks, as Successor

| 12/18/2025

By: The Good Newsroom

The resignation and appointment were publicized in Washington, D.C. on December 18, 2025, by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States

Bishop Ronald A. Hicks of Joliet, Ill., is pictured during the 2018 fall general assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Baltimore. Sixteen parishes in the Joliet Diocese will be reconfigured into seven parishes, with five churches closing, in order to optimize the diocese's resources for its future and evangelization efforts, Bishop Hicks announced Januuary 25.
Bishop Ronald A. Hicks of Joliet, Ill., is pictured during the 2018 fall general assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Baltimore. Sixteen parishes in the Joliet Diocese will be reconfigured into seven parishes, with five churches closing, in order to optimize the diocese's resources for its future and evangelization efforts, Bishop Hicks announced Jan. 25. (OSV News photo/CNS file, Bob Roller)

Pope Leo XIV has accepted the resignation of His Eminence Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, 75, from the pastoral governance of the Archdiocese of New York, and has appointed Most Reverend Ronald A. Hicks, currently Bishop of Joliet, as the Metropolitan Archbishop of New York. 

The resignation and appointment were publicized in Washington, D.C. on December 18, 2025, by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States. 

The Archdiocese of New York is comprised of 4,683 square miles in the State of New York and has a total population of 5,445,700, of which 1,572,580, are Catholic.

04:52
El 18 de diciembre, la Catedral de San Patricio fue escenario de un momento histórico para la Arquidiócesis de Nueva York: la Misa de Adviento y Navidad celebrada por el arzobispo designado Ronald Hicks y el cardenal Timothy Dolan, administrador apostólico de la Arquidiócesis de Nueva York, que marcó el inicio oficial del ministerio pastoral de Hicks como nuevo líder de la comunidad de fe.

By:

Fernanda Pierorazio

| 12/18/2025

The Archbishop-designate made his first public appearance at St. Patrick's Cathedral in his new role.

By:

Steven Schwankert

| 12/18/2025

03:17
The employees of the Archdiocese of New York welcomed Archbishop-designate Hicks with open arms, as he concelebrated Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan.

By:

Patrick Grady

| 12/18/2025