STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Cardinal Timothy Dolan is reportedly resigning from his post serving the New York Archdiocese.
According to a report from the New York Post, Dolan’s successor could be a bishop from Illinois.
Dolan, 75, reached the mandatory retiring age in February and promptly submitted his resignation from his seat, which he has held since 2009.
The New York Post said it is rumored that Pope Leo XIV — the first American to ever lead the world’s Catholic population from Rome’s Vatican City — will accept Dolan’s resignation this week, just before the Christmas holiday.
The favorite to assume Dolan’s role is Bishop Ron Hicks, from Joliet, Illinois’s Diocese, which he assumed leadership of in 2020 under the direction of Pope Francis, according to the Diocese’s website.
Hicks has close ties to the pope’s hometown, Chicago, as well.
“Bishop Hicks was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Chicago on May 21, 1994. He served as an associate pastor at Our Lady of Mercy Parish in Chicago from 1994 to 1996 and at St. Elizabeth Seton Parish in Orland Hills, Illinois, from 1996 to 1999. From 1999 to 2005, he lived and ministered at St. Joseph College Seminary in Chicago as the dean of formation,” the website reads.
At 58 years old, Hicks would have 17 years to serve in New York’s archdiocese, should he be appointed.
The archdiocese is presently facing costly settlement figures for “1,300 claims of child sex abuse by priests and Catholic Church lay staffers,” the Post reported.