The Vatican announced on Thursday that it has accepted the resignation of Cardinal Timothy Dolan. Stepping into his role as the next archbishop of New York will be Bishop Ronald Hicks from Joliet, Illinois.

Bishop Hicks, aged 58, is set to succeed Cardinal Dolan, who has been at the helm of the archdiocese since 2009. Hicks will be the fourteenth bishop and the eleventh archbishop to serve in this capacity for the Archdiocese of New York. Cardinal Dolan submitted his obligatory retirement letter upon reaching the age of 75 this past February.

Until Hicks officially takes over on February 6, 2026, at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dolan will continue to manage the archdiocese as the apostolic administrator.

Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the United States, will preside over the installation ceremony.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan is seen marching up Fifth Avenue during New York City’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade on March 17, 2023. (Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images)

Dolan most recently participated in the conclave that elected Pope Leo XIV in May. He also participated in the conclave that elected Pope Francis in March 2013.

“The last week since I found out, I’ve gotten to know him [Hicks]. And I already love him and appreciate him and trust him. Is there sadness in my heart? Sure. Because I love the archdiocese in New York. That sadness is mitigated by the gift that this new archbishop already is,” said Dolan at a press conference.

Hicks grew up in the south suburbs of Chicago and was ordained as a priest for the archdiocese in 1994. After early pastoral assignments in Chicago, he shifted into seminary leadership roles and later spent five years in El Salvador as regional director for Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos, a Catholic charitable organization.

Pope Leo XIV has appointed Bishop Ronald Hicks as archbishop of New York to succeed retiring Cardinal Timothy Dolan.  (YouTube / Diocese of Joliet)

He returned to Illinois in 2015 and was named vicar general of the Archdiocese of Chicago. Pope Francis appointed him auxiliary bishop in 2018, and he became bishop of the Diocese of Joliet in 2020. 

In the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), Hicks chairs the Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations and sits on the Episcopal Advisory Board for the Catholic Leadership Institute.

“I would like to simply begin by expressing my heartfelt gratitude to Pope Leo the 14th for this appointment,” Hicks told reporters Thursday.

“If you want to know the core of who I am and what I stand for, you should know this: I love Jesus with my mind, heart, and soul, and I strive to love my neighbor as myself. My desire is to be obedient to the Holy Spirit and to do the will of God, serving with a shepherd’s heart,” he added. “I trust, and I surrender my life and my will to God, and with great humility, I accept this appointment. I ask for your prayers. I ask for your support as we take these next steps together.”

New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan greets Bishop Ronald Hicks during a news conference in New York on Dec. 18, 2025. (Ryan Murphy/AP)

Responding to a question about immigration and New York’s Latino community, Hicks said he agrees with the USCCB’s recent statement on the issue, stressing the importance of both border security and treating migrants with dignity and respect under due process.

The archbishop-designate has spoken warmly about his relationship with Pope Leo XIV, who grew up in the neighboring Chicago suburb of Dolton.

Pope Leo XIV waves to attendees as he arrives for his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Dec. 17, 2025. (Alessandra Tarantino/AP)

“He doesn’t seem like some figure or theory out there. But he’s a normal guy from a normal neighborhood we grew up in. For me, it makes him so relatable,” Hicks told WGN Chicago.

“I recognize a lot of similarities between him and me. So we grew up literally in the same radius, in the same neighborhood together,” he said. “We played in the same parks, went swimming in the same pools, liked the same pizza places to go to. I mean, it’s that real.”