Ronald Hicks, who endorsed message condemning ICE raids, to lead one of biggest US archdioceses
Pope Leo XIV has named a fellow Chicagoan as the next archbishop of New York, one of the biggest US archdioceses, in a signal that the church will continue its stance against the Trump administration on immigration.
The US-born pope chose 58-year-old Ronald Hicks, the current bishop of Joliet, Illinois, to lead the church in New York, replacing retiring Cardinal Timothy Dolan who has served for 16 years after being selected by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012.
Dolan is regarded as a conservative figure in the US Catholic church hierarchy. Hicks takes on the role of cardinal after Dolan last week finalized a plan to establish a $300m fund to compensate victims of sexual abuse who had brought legal action against the archdiocese.
Notably, Leo and the US hierarchy have shown willingness to challenge the administration on its immigration policies. In October, Leo questioned whether the policies were in line with the Catholic church’s “pro-life” teachings and described them as “inhuman”.
