Cardinal Timothy Dolan will step aside as the leader of more than two million Roman Catholics in and around New York City, capping a 16-year run as a prominent social figure in the city and one of the most visible prelates in the United States.
Pope Leo XIV announced Thursday he had accepted Dolan’s resignation, which was offered by custom on the cardinal’s 75th birthday in February, according to the Archdiocese of New York. Leo named Ronald Hicks, the bishop of Joliet, Ill., as Dolan’s successor.
The move marks a major leadership change for the hundreds of churches in the New York Archdiocese. The archdiocese said Dolan will remain apostolic administrator until Hicks is installed by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Midtown on Feb. 6.
“I am grateful to Pope Leo for appointing such a splendid priest and bishop to serve you, and have pledged to the archbishop-designate my fidelity and full cooperation, as he will now be my archbishop as well,” Dolan said in a written message to local Catholics.
Hicks, 58, was ordained in 1994 for the Archdiocese of Chicago and became bishop of the Diocese of Joliet in 2020, which is located about 50 south of the Windy City. He spent five years as a missionary in El Salvador.
Dennis Poust, executive director of the New York State Catholic Conference, which represents bishops, welcomed Hicks’ appointment and expressed gratitude for Dolan’s tenure.
“Archbishop-designate Hicks is known as a man of deep faith, strong intellect, and a pastoral love for those in his spiritual care,” Poust said in a statement. “We look forward to many years of working with him in his new role as President of the New York State Catholic Conference, and for the guidance and leadership he will provide, along with his brother bishops, in setting the public policy priorities of the Church.”
The change comes days after the New York archdiocese said it would sell the land beneath the Palace Hotel in Manhattan to the hotel’s owner for $490 million to help establish a $300 million fund to compensate survivors of sexual abuse. The diocese is seeking to settle claims by more than 1,000 people who allege they were abused as minors by priests and other church officials.
Dolan was first ordained a priest in Missouri and was serving as the Bishop of Milwaukee when he was tapped by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009 to run the Archdiocese of New York. Dolan was elevated to cardinal three years later and participated in the papal conclaves that elected Popes Francis and Leo XIV.
Dolan presided over the archdiocese as it downsized due to declining church attendance and the fallout from a sexual abuse scandal. He closed schools and consolidated parishes. He oversaw a renovation of St. Patrick’s, a Gothic gem that welcomes visitors from around the world.
He was also generally considered a conservative, both politically and liturgically. Dolan lobbied against a bill to allow physician-assisted death. Gov. Kathy Hochul said she will sign into law, as well as legislation strengthening the state’s abortion rights laws.
This is a developing story and has been updated with additional information.
