Pope replaces Dolan with Spanish-speaking bishop in New York
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Pope Leo XIV waves as he arrives for his weekly general audience in St. Peter's square at the Vatican. Photo: Maria Grazia Picciarella/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Pope Leo XIV appointed Bishop Ronald Hicks as New York's new archbishop to replace Cardinal Timothy Dolan, a friend to President Trump in a Catholic Church that has grown increasingly critical of the president.
Why it matters: Hicks' selection marks a decisive shift away from Dolan's culture-war conservatism for an archdiocese that serves some 2.5 million Catholics.
- Dolan appeared often on Fox News, prayed at Trump's inaugurations and leaned into high-profile cultural friction. Hicks, a Spanish-speaking pastor with a missionary background, represents a lower key pastoral model that aligns the nation's most visible archdiocese with Rome.
Driving the news: Hicks, 58, has served as the bishop of the Diocese of Joliet in Illinois. He told Vatican News his "desire is to be a pastor with a shepherd's heart," nodding to the late Pope Francis.
- Both Hicks and Pope Leo grew up in Chicago's south suburbs and worked as missionaries in Latin America: Leo in Peru, Hicks in El Salvador, directing a program for orphaned and abandoned children.
- Dolan's resignation was accepted after he reached the Church's mandatory retirement age of 75.
Flashback: Dolan drew angry reaction after he called conservative provocateur Charlie Kirk "a hero" following his assassination and compared him to St. Paul.
- "I thought, 'I've got to learn about this guy,' and the more I learned about him, I thought, 'this guy's a modern-day St. Paul,'" Cardinal Dolan said on an appearance with "Fox & Friends."
- Other Catholics denounced Dolan for the comment and pointed out that Kirk had made a number of racist statements about Latinos.
Between the lines: The choice sets the groundwork for a more unifying style of leadership and a preservation of Francis' reforms.
- Dolan, who often made media appearances and led prayers at Trump's inaugurations, urged Catholics to be more involved politically. But Hicks, per the New York Times, has largely avoided speaking out about politics.
- However, he did back the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' "special message" lamenting immigration policy in the U.S. and defending "God-given human dignity."
What he's saying: Hicks shared in a statement that the USCCB letter "affirms our solidarity with all our brothers and sisters as it expresses our concerns, opposition, and hopes with clarity and conviction."
- He continued, "It is grounded in the Church's enduring commitment to the Catholic social teaching of human dignity and a call for meaningful immigration reform."
Go deeper: Pope Leo cautions Trump on fracturing U.S.-Europe alliance
Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional context.
