{"id":125565,"date":"2026-02-06T20:41:31","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T20:41:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/125565\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T20:41:31","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T20:41:31","slug":"staten-island-catholics-welcome-a-new-shepherd-as-archbishop-ronald-hicks-is-installed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/125565\/","title":{"rendered":"Staten Island Catholics welcome a new shepherd as Archbishop Ronald Hicks is installed"},"content":{"rendered":"

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 The New York City Catholic community officially welcomed the new archbishop on Friday afternoon, with schools and churches on Staten Island celebrating the beginning of a new era. <\/p>\n

Archbishop Ronald Hicks, 58, was named to the role by Pope Leo XIV in December, following the retirement of Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who had held the position since 2009.<\/p>\n

The ceremonial changing of the guard began with a vespers ceremony, a more formal evening prayer service, at 5 p.m. Thursday. The ceremony included psalms, hymns, scripture readings and prayers. The ceremony traditionally provides clergy and religious people an opportunity to pray for the new archbishop and the diocese.<\/p>\n

The installation Mass was held Friday at 2 p.m. at St. Patrick\u2019s Cathedral in Manhattan, and featured Archbishop Hicks\u2019 formal appointment, as the official document from the pope was read.<\/p>\n

\"StatenLouis Tobacco, president of Monsignor Farrell High School, poses with Leeland Hertzler, a sophomore at the school, at the mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan on Feb. 6, 2026.Courtesy of Louis Tobacco<\/p>\n

Scriptures, psalms and gospels were read, and Holy Communion was given.<\/p>\n

Louis R. Tobacco, president of Monsignor Farrell High School, attended the ceremony, along with sophomore student Leeland Hertzler and his father, Kevin Hertzler. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are one big family, the Catholic church and the Archdiocese of New York, and it\u2019s exciting for us to come together to celebrate as one family, welcoming our new archbishop,\u201d said Tobacco, who has served as the all-boys high school president for seven years. \u201cOur motto at Farrell is Vir Fidelis, and that means faithful man. It is really important to us because the archbishop now becomes our faithful man. He becomes our shepherd and our guide. We look to him for strength and for our faith and guidance.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"StatenKevin Hertzler, with son, Leeland, a sophomore at Monsignor Farrell, at the Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan on Feb. 6, 2026.Courtesy of Louis Tobacco<\/p>\n

Tobacco also shared his gratitude for Cardinal Dolan\u2019s years of service, and close relationship to the Catholic schools of Staten Island. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s bittersweet, because we have become very close to Cardinal Dolan,\u201d he shared while on route to the ceremony. \u201cHe has been such a dear friend to Monsignor Farrell High School. I\u2019ve walked this journey along with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kerri Paone, the elementary school principal at Notre Dame Academy, along with her children, also attended the event and was chosen to represent all archdiocesan schools in formally welcoming Archbishop Hicks to New York.<\/p>\n

This appointment is especially touching to the faculty and students of Notre Dame Academy because Archbishop Hicks attended a congregation of Notre Dame school in Illinois as a child. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe founders of our school were also the founders and leaders of his school, and their mission is about liberating education and freeing the gifts of every student,\u201d said Kathryn Jaenicke, the president of Notre Dame Academy. \u201cWe feel that link to the archbishop because he was brought up in the same religious community as we have here.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"StatenBorough President Vito Fossella with Leeland Hertzler, a sophomore at Monsignor Farrell, at the mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan on Feb. 6, 2026.Courtesy of Louis Tobacco<\/p>\n

Borough President Vito Fossella attended both the vespers ceremony and the installation Mass, and offered his well wishes to the new Archdiocese leader.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe offer our congratulations to Archbishop Hicks as he assumes leadership of the archdiocese as a teacher and guide for Catholics and millions of New Yorkers of the faith,\u201d Fossella said in a statement. \u201cWe had the honor and pleasure of attending the incoming Archbishop Hicks\u2019 vesper mass last night… His words and his conviction for the faith were profound.\u201d<\/p>\n

Closer to home, Jaenicke hosted a watch party of the Mass for faculty, while the all-girls high school students had the opportunity to watch with their classmates. The younger grades were encouraged to watch the live stream at home and share images of the event, to contribute to a school-wide photo album.<\/p>\n

Bernadette Ficchi, the principal of St. Ann School in Dongan Hills, said that their students and faculty have been praying the rosary for the new religious leader. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe students are going to Mass in the morning, and we will pray for him in his installation,\u201d she said prior to the ceremony.<\/p>\n

Local clergy have also participated in the welcoming of Archbishop Hicks, with representatives from multiple parishes attending the Mass and offering their prayers.<\/p>\n

\"Rev.Rev. Michael Martine is shown in 2024.Steve White | For the Advance\/SILive.com<\/p>\n

Rev. Michael Martine of Holy Rosary Church in South Beach had met with the new leader shortly after his nomination, and expressed his support. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re blessed to have him and welcome him to the Archdiocese,\u201d he said. \u201cBy his homilies and his remarks, the love that he has for Christ and the church and its people is very evident.\u201d <\/p>\n

He also shared that his parishioners at Holy Rosary are supporting Archbishop Hicks and praying that God will give him the grace and strength he needs in his new position.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a big responsibility and he needs a lot of prayers as he takes over,\u201d said Rev. Jacob Thumma, the pastor of St. Ann\u2019s Church in Dongan Hills and St. Sylvester\u2019s Church in Concord. <\/p>\n

\"Rev.Rev. Jacob Thumma gives communion during the Easter Sunday service at St. Sylvester’s R.C. Church in Concord.Hilton Flores|Staten Island Advance\/SILive.comBishop Ronald Hicks <\/p>\n

The Illinois native was born and raised in suburban Chicago, just like the new pope. His parents, Ron and Roselee, were both school teachers.<\/p>\n

He graduated from the seminary in 1985 before studying philosophy at Loyola University Chicago. He also has a master\u2019s degree in divinity from the University of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, Illinois. He was ordained in 1994 and in 2020 was named the sixth bishop of the Diocese of Joliet, Illinois.<\/p>\n

He speaks fluent Spanish and ministered to the poor in South and Central America for many years. He also lived in El Salvador for five years, where he worked as a regional director of an organization dedicated to caring for orphaned and abandoned children.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 The New York City Catholic community officially welcomed the new archbishop on Friday afternoon,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":125566,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-125565","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-staten-island","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-staten-island","12":"tag-staten-island-headlines","13":"tag-staten-island-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125565\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}