The appointment of a new Archbishop of New York deservedly generates a lot of buzz, given the archdiocese’s size and prominence. The media response is in full force as Bishop Ronald Hicks from the Diocese of Joliet, Illinois, was named by Pope Leo XIV as New York’s next shepherd, per a Vatican announcement today.
But the only downside is that everyone so quickly wants to put the new archbishop in a box. Whose “camp” does he belong to? Is he on “your team”?
People are reading into every detail. One especially of note is that Hicks and Pope Leo XIV happened to both grow up in neighboring suburbs on Chicago’s South Side.
Given that Catholic Extension Society is based in Chicago, we can say that the Windy City isn’t feeling boastful that our native son is heading to New York. Rather, we are jealous that New York City has snagged one of our best from us!
A man of faith and substance
To understand the significance and soundness of this appointment, we suggest that you get to know the man set to lead 2.5 million Catholics. You will realize that the 58-year-old bishop is someone truly worthy of the prestigious role.
As a young man discerning a call to the priesthood in the late 1980s, Hicks took a year off from seminary with the goal of learning Spanish. He volunteered in an orphanage, Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos (“Our Little Brothers”), in Central Mexico.
From that moment on, his connection to the poor and his priestly vocation grew together. He re-entered the seminary and was ordained a priest in 1994, recalling that he couldn’t stop smiling that day.
New Yorkers will appreciate that he is driven by a sense of duty that fuels his remarkable work ethic. He remains grounded by his tight-knit family, including his brother, his parents (both still living), and his extended family. All of them have stayed very connected to his ministry over the years.
Bishop Hicks is a masterful preacher, with homilies that reflect his relatability as a human being and man of faith. He speaks Spanish effortlessly when in Latino parishes and out in the community, often using idiomatic expressions.
Throughout his life and priesthood, he has cultivated a wide network of friends. One of his close friends and classmates in seminary, Father David Boettner, pictured below with Hicks at his ordination as bishop in 2018, noted, “People gravitate toward him. He always seemed to maintain friendships for a long time.”
In 2022, Bishop Hicks joined Catholic Extension Society’s Board of Governors at the invitation of our president, Father Jack Wall. Bishop Hicks has helped Catholic Extension Society build up the Church’s presence among the poor and in the poorest regions of the country.
Channeling his roots
In the early days of his priesthood, Hicks served in parishes throughout the Archdiocese of Chicago. Later, he assisted in the archdiocese’s education of seminarians, eventually becoming Dean of Formation at Mundelein Seminary.
One of things he modeled to the seminarians was that a diocesan priest’s vocation is formed not only in a book or in a classroom, but also by the people he serves and grows to love.
Perhaps that is why in between stints at Mundelein he went back to Latin America for five years to reunite with the community that helped forge his priestly vocation. He became regional director for Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos based in El Salvador from 2005 to 2010 with a mission to protect vulnerable children throughout Central America.
His time in El Salvador was an influential period. Today, the symbols on his bishop’s shield include a sprig of rosemary, which in Spanish is called “Romero”—a reference to the beloved Archbishop of San Salvador, Saint Óscar Romero, who was martyred in 1980 for his defense of the voiceless.
It signals that Hicks, too, wants to be a bishop that prioritizes the least of God’s people, no matter the importance of his day-to-day duties.
Ready to lead
Hicks came back from El Salvador an even stronger priest. When Cardinal Blase Cupich was first named Chicago’s archbishop in 2014, he recognized that strength and promptly named Hicks as his vicar general.
Four years later, Cardinal Cupich ordained Hicks as an auxiliary bishop. Bishop Hicks was then installed as bishop of the Diocese of Joliet in 2020, where he has served more than half a million Catholics. But his vocation as bishop was never separated from his foundational belief that a priest is shaped by his people.
Though he steps into a massive new role leading 2.5 million Catholics in New York, he will be a man grounded by his love of God, the poor, and the people he serves.
We are proud that from Catholic Extension Society’s Board of Governors such an important leader has emerged for the American Church. We were similarly proud last month when the U.S. bishops elected their new vice president and presumptive future president from our board, Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville, Texas—another man grounded in his love of those on the peripheries.
We pray for the Archdiocese of New York that they will quickly fall in love with their new shepherd, Ronald Hicks, just as he will surely come to know and love them.
