VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV on Thursday made his most important U.S. appointment to date, naming a fellow Chicagoan as the next archbishop of New York to lead one of the biggest U.S. archdioceses as it navigates relations with the Trump administration and its immigration crackdown.
Bishop Ronald Hicks, the current bishop of Joliet, Illinois, replaces the retiring Cardinal Timothy Dolan, a prominent conservative figure in the U.S. Catholic hierarchy. Hicks takes over after Dolan last week finalized a plan to establish a $300 million fund to compensate victims of sexual abuse who had sued the archdiocese.
Hicks addressed the matter during his news conference Thursday.
“As a church, we can never rest in our efforts to prevent abuse, to protect children and to care for survivors,” he said. “While this work is challenging, its difficult, its painful, I hope it will continue to help in the areas of accountability, transparency and healing.”