Bishop Ronald Hicks Leaving Joliet For New York City, Catholic News Outlet The Pillar Confirms

JOLIET, IL — The Catholic news outlet known as The Pillar is reporting that Pope Leo XIV will appoint Bishop Ronald Hicks of Joliet as the next Archbishop of New York, and the announcement happen within the next two days.

According to The Pillar's reporting, "sources close to the Dicastery for Bishops in Rome" confirmed the appointment to The Pillar Dec. 16, indicating that the move is likely to be announced Thursday.

Hicks will succeed Cardinal Timothy Dolan, 75, who has served in New York since 2009. The bishop’s appointment will bring to an end to months of speculation about Dolan’s successor, with several candidates speculated for the position.

The task of leading the New York archdiocese is not likely to be easy, according to The Pillar's story.

Dolan announced last week that the archdiocese is selling off real estate to put aside some $300 million into a fund meant for the compensation of sexual abuse survivors. Real estate sold off for the fund includes the $100 million sale last year of the archdiocesan headquarters at 1011 First Ave., after which chancery operations were moved to a former Catholic high school.

In October 2024, Joliet Patch reported that Diocese of Joliet Bishop Ron Hicks would not be appealing his defeat from Vatican City. That September, clergy in Rome overturned Hicks' unpopular decision of closing St. Joseph's Parish in downtown Joliet.

Hicks had until Nov. 9, 2024, or 60 days, to decide whether to appeal the Dicastery for Clergy's decision to a higher court in the Vatican. However, he decided to honor the decision of the Dicastery.

Instead, with St. Joseph's now remaining as a standalone parish, Hicks was poised to move ahead with a merger of St. Mary Magdalene's, St. Anthony's and St. Bernard's.

The churches at St. Anthony's and St. Bernard's were closed permanently that summer.

In the summer of 2020, Joliet Patch reported that Pope Francis announced Bishop Ronald A. Hicks, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Chicago, as the sixth Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Joliet.

Pope Francis had previously accepted the resignation of Bishop Emeritus R. Daniel Conlon and had named Bishop Richard E. Pates as Apostolic Administrator of the diocese until a new bishop could be appointed. Bishop Hicks, then 52, was installed at the Cathedral of St. Raymond Nonnatus in Joliet on September 29, 2020.

"The Diocese of Joliet is most grateful to Pope Francis for the appointment of Bishop Ronald Hicks as its sixth bishop,” said Bishop Pates in a news release at the time. “The bishop owns a reputation for pastoral leadership and is totally committed to the ongoing renewal of the Catholic Church. He is a worthy successor to Bishop Conlon and his predecessors."

According to the Diocese of Joliet, Bishop Hicks is a native of Harvey, and grew up in South Holland, where he attended St. Jude the Apostle Parish and Grade School.

Hicks graduated from Quigley Seminary South in 1985. He received his bachelor's in philosophy from Niles College of Loyola University Chicago in 1989 and his Master of Divinity degree in 1994 and his Doctor of Ministry degree in 2003, both from the University of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein.