For the February 6 installation Mass in Manhattan’s historic St. Patrick’s Cathedral, an event attended by donors, dignitaries, and church leaders, the new archbishop of New York, Most Reverend Ronald Hicks, made the touching choice to invite a young man and former orphan named Samuel Jimenez to read the scripture at Mass.
At a press conference on February 5, Hicks said “I chose him specifically.”
Jimenez is an immigrant to the United States, and was once a resident in the El Salvador orphanage, Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos (“Our Little Brothers and Sisters”), that then-Father Hicks led from 2005 through 2009.
A book was written on Jimenez’s life “Do not Discard,” describing his amazing story of survival—beginning as an infant when he was literally disposed of in a trash dump before being rescued by strangers. He was then shot by bandits as a young child and violently abused by his adoptive parents, all before ending up at the orphanage Most Reverend Hicks led.
There, he was given a chance to heal, grow, and eventually thrive as an adult thanks to the exquisite care he received.
By bringing the one-time orphan to read at his installation Mass, the new archbishop’s message was clear: People like Jimenez are the kind of souls who should always be at the heart of the Church, not the periphery.
While Father Hicks left the orphanage in 2009 to return to ministry in his home Archdiocese of Chicago, ultimately being ordained a bishop in 2018, his heart nonetheless remained with the orphaned and neglected he served.
Most Reverend Hicks acknowledges that serving in Latin America—first as a seminarian in in Mexico and later as a priest in El Salvador—were experiences that transformed his life, saying in Spanish,
The reason I picked (Sam) was because he is part of my life of that mission that I had in Central America. I left my heart in Central America. He represents a part of my life that is family; affection that is love.”
Jimenez’s story is a perfect symbol about what the Church believes about human life, namely that it has inherent dignity and that the Church’s role is to protect and nurture those that society would easily discard.
A shepherd, not a CEO
Most Reverend Hicks, no doubt, is setting the tone for the kind of Church he hopes to shepherd in New York City: one that offers its solidarity to the least of God’s people and rallies around the most vulnerable.
The new archbishop’s sentiments echo those of Pope Leo XIV, who no doubt carefully discerned what kind of leader he would install for this prominent role in New York.
Pope Leo, who like Most Reverend Hicks, also served as a missionary in Latin America, recently spoke of his concern about vulnerable populations and the tendency to see them as disposable. “Ever more inhuman measures are being adopted—even celebrated politically—that treat these “undesirables” as if they were garbage and not human beings,” he said.
Pope Leo said this in October 2025 at the World Meeting of Popular Movements, urging grassroots church organizations to fill the void of society’s often inhuman indifference.
Jimenez’s reading at Archbishop Hicks’ installation Mass will give witness to how precious the gift of life is, and will remind the entire Archdiocese of New York of our duty as Christians to help nurture it—so that God can bring to fruition all of its magnificent potential. As in the case of Sam Jimenez.
Through this gesture, Archbishop Hicks is already beginning to create a compelling pastoral vision for his local Church of 2.5 million Catholics.
As Most Reverend Hicks said of his new archdiocese, “I’m excited about becoming their shepherd. I don’t want to be seen as only the CEO or the corporate president of a group.”
He continued,
I am called here to be a pastor. I’m called here to be a shepherd.”
Most Reverend Hicks also realizes that this role is bigger than just New York, and that people around the country are also watching closely in this very prominent archdiocese that sits in the shadow of Lady Liberty.
“We all know that New York is not just New York. …The world is gathered here. It’s national; it’s international. What goes on here has an effect. I’m conscientious of that.” he said.
Follow our coverage of the installation of Most Reverend Ronald Hicks here!
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