{"id":75176,"date":"2025-12-19T03:34:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T03:34:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/75176\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T03:34:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T03:34:09","slug":"new-ny-archbishop-ronald-hicks-expected-to-stick-to-catholic-church-doctrine-and-be-more-careful-with-what-he-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/75176\/","title":{"rendered":"New NY Archbishop Ronald Hicks expected to stick to Catholic church doctrine — and be ‘more careful’ with what he says"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York\u2019s next archbishop is being heralded a \u201cunifier\u201d <\/a>who will stick firmly to papal doctrine \u2014 just don\u2019t expect to see him on talk shows any time soon.<\/p>\n

Pope Leo XIV appointed Ronald Hicks Jr., the current bishop of Joliet, Ill., to become the next Archbishop of New York, one of the most important seats in the nation for the church.<\/p>\n

Sources claim after the outspoken Cardinal Timothy Dolan, 75, the church is closing ranks and has deliberately chosen someone who will follow the church\u2019s official theological positions closely and quietly.<\/a><\/p>\n

Bishop Ronald Aldon Hicks smiling, dressed in green and gold vestments, with a stained-glass window in the background. Diocese of Joliet<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Hicks will be much more like Pope Leo, more careful what he says. In the first year of being Archbishop he\u2019s going to avoid political issues and emphasize his pastoral role,\u201d Thomas J. Reese, a Jesuit priest and senior analyst with Religion News Service, told The Post.<\/p>\n

In contrast, \u201cthey broke the mold when they made Archbishop Dolan,\u201d who is stepping down at the end of this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s nobody like him. He was very spontaneous, very outspoken. He made himself very much available to the press and he enjoyed\u00a0it,\u201d said Reese.<\/p>\n

Archbishop-designate Ronald Hicks speaks flanked by Cardinal Timothy Dolan at St. Patrick\u2019s Cathedral, in New York City, Dec. 18. REUTERS<\/p>\n

Dolan has always been a unique character, most recently causing controversy<\/a> when he referred to slain activist Charlie Kirk <\/a>as \u201ca modern-day St. Paul\u201d on \u201cFox and Friends\u201d in September.<\/p>\n

Hicks, a Chicago Cubs and deep dish pizza fan<\/a>, \u201cwants to be a unifier. So, I think he will avoid saying things people find divisive. He\u2019s not going to attack the President, but he\u2019s not going to embrace him, either,\u201d he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In that sense, Reese said, Hicks is more in line with the vast majority of Catholic bishops.<\/p>\n

Hicks\u2019 only sibling, younger brother Rick Hicks, told The Post New York is \u201cgetting a good one,\u201d in his brother.<\/p>\n

Bishop Ronald Hicks (right) with his parents and brother Rick (left). The Hicks Family<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a workaholic. He likes to be educated on the issues. He\u2019s relatable. He\u2019s personable. He will make time for everybody,\u201d Rick, a 56-year-old IT consultant in Naperville, Ill. said.<\/p>\n

The Hicks boys grew up in an ecumenical family \u2014 a Roman Catholic father and Lutheran mother, both teachers \u2014 in the south suburbs of Chicago, at 155th\u00a0Street and Woodlawn Ave., a short five-minute drive from Pope Leo XIV\u2019s childhood home.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe grew up literally in the same radius, in the same neighborhood together. We played in the same parks, went swimming in the same pools, like the same pizza places,\u201d Hicks told local WGN-TV Chicago after Leo was elected Pope <\/a>in May.<\/p>\n

Unlike the Holy Father, who roots for the White Sox<\/a>, Bishop Hicks is a Cubs fan. But like the Pope, the proud Midwesterner has been active in Catholic operations in Latin America and speaks fluent Spanish. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Hicks\u2019 stances on the big issues facing the Catholic church are very much in line with what Pope Leo has been handing down from Rome since his papal inauguration.<\/p>\n

Bishop Ronald Hicks celebrating mass at the DuPage County Correctional Facility. DuPage County Sheriff’s Office \/ Facebook<\/p>\n

When the US Supreme Court overturned federal abortion decision Roe v. Wade, Bishop Hicks released a statement calling the it an answer to decades of prayer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI celebrate this ruling yet mourn the fact that here, in our home state of Illinois, it will have no immediate impact given the state\u2019s 2019 enshrinement into law of abortion as a misguided fundamental right,\u201d he wrote at the time.<\/p>\n

Last month, when Illinois passed legislation to legalize assisted suicide \u2014 which New York gov. Kathy Hocul announced this week she has also reached a deal to do \u2014 Hicks expressed \u201cdeep sadness and disappointment\u201d in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs you know, the Catholic Church firmly upholds the dignity of every human life from conception to natural death. Assisted suicide contradicts our moral teaching and threatens the well-being of the poor, the elderly, and those with disabilities. It sends the tragic message,\u201d he wrote, aligning him with his predecessor, Cardinal Dolan.<\/p>\n

Hicks has also been supportive of the traditional Latin mass and orthodox practices in his diocese \u2014 and that unlikely to change that when he moves to New York, said Catholic writer Emily Zanotti.<\/p>\n

St. Patrick\u2019s Cathedral, the seat of the Archbishop of New York, which will be Hicks\u2019 headquarters once he is formally appointed in February next year. REUTERS<\/p>\n

\u201cIn terms of same sex marriage, the church is not changing anytime soon. I know there\u2019s some on the left who really, really want to believe that there\u2019s this possibility, but Hicks is not going to change that,\u201d Zanotti told The Post.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think, for Pope Leo, the thing is to keep the American church together. <\/a>He\u2019s an American, after all, and he\u2019s already spoken out against things like transgenderism and gender issues. I have a feeling Hicks will follow in his footsteps.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Pope and Hicks only met once, in 2024, when Leo \u2014 then Cardinal Robert Prevost \u2014visited one of Hicks\u2019 parishes and gave a talk. Hicks told reporters that the two spoke in private for about 20 minutes following the event. \u00a0<\/p>\n

At the time he praised the future Pope as someone who \u201ctakes more time to listen than talk,\u201d \u201cdoesn\u2019t back away or shy away from tough issues\u201d and would lead \u201cwith the heart of a shepherd.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hicks giving Mass from his Joilet, Illinois, diocese. iocese of Joliet<\/p>\n

At a press conference on Thursday inside New York\u2019s historic St. Patrick\u2019s Cathedral, Bishop Hicks told reporters he was excited to get to know New York and its people, a city he\u2019s only visited about ten times before his appointment.<\/p>\n

He will formally ascend to become an archbishop on Feb. 6 next year. An archbishop leads a major metropolitan area, but Hick will not yet be a cardinal, which is someone who works in papal counsel, a slightly higher position.<\/p>\n

Rick Hicks noted his family has never been moved by politics \u2014 and he doesn\u2019t want to see his brother dragged into partisan mudslinging. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s such a theologian and an academic person. He\u2019s been part of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops for years and the academic writings say treat people with humanity and dignity,\u201d Rick said.<\/p>\n

The Cathedral of St. Raymond Nonnatus in Joliet, Illinios where Hicks has served since 2010. James Keivom<\/p>\n

New York archbishop Timothy Dolan (right) greets Bishop Hicks (left) before the news conference at St. Patrick\u2019s Cathedral to anounce the handover. AP<\/p>\n

\u201cHis personal feelings are the same as his public feelings on treating people with humanity and respect. We are not a political family. We are not left, we are not right,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve always tried to live in the world separating church and politics.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said that on polarizing issues his family has always follow the church\u2019s lead.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were sports, neighborhood, church family. It was: go to church, watch the Cubs games, watch the Bears games, watch the Hawks and the Bulls, and go out to dinner occasionally,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Hicks has always been scholarly, religious and adventurous. In 1985, right after high school \u2014 where he was valedictorian and student council president \u2014 Hicks spent a year volunteering at a Catholic orphanage in Mexico, kickstarting a lifelong passion for helping orphaned kids.<\/p>\n

Hicks in a photo from his younger days with his father William B. Wasson. The Hicks Family<\/p>\n

He received his BA from Loyola University Chicago in philosophy, before entering the seminary and climbing the ranks of the church.<\/p>\n

He returned to Latin America from 2005 to 2010 and became regional director for a Catholic charity in El Salvador, overseeing care for over 3,400 orphaned children across Central America and the Caribbean from 2005 to 2010.<\/p>\n

Hicks was then appointed Bishop of Joliet in 2020 by Pope Francis, where he oversaw roughly 525,000 Catholics across seven counties.<\/p>\n

The New York archdiocese serves 2.5 million Catholics in The Bronx, Manhattan, Staten Island and seven counties north of the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Although deeply committed to Catholicism, Hicks also has a lighter side and will feel right at home beside New York\u2019s bright lights, not only as a theater buff but a man who loves \u201cfine dining, good restaurants, the cultural side.\u201d<\/p>\n

On one trip to New York a few years ago, Hicks took his parents to see\u00a0Bette Midler\u00a0in a Broadway production of \u201cHello, Dolly!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe just raved about it,\u201d Rick said. \u201cHe loves that, going to those types of cultural events.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York\u2019s next archbishop is being heralded a \u201cunifier\u201d who will stick firmly to papal doctrine \u2014 just…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":75177,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[37623,4840,9,24,55,54,56,5638,33997,1076],"class_list":["post-75176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-bishop","tag-catholic-church","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-ny","tag-pope-leo-xiv","tag-timothy-dolan","tag-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75176","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=75176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75176\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}