Vatican confirms resignation of Cardinal Timothy Dolan, announces new archbishop of New York

The Vatican on Thursday accepted the resignation of Cardinal Timothy Dolan and announced that Bishop Ronald Hicks of Joliet, Illinois, will become the next archbishop of New York.

Hicks, 58, will succeed Dolan, who has led the archdiocese since 2009. He will become the fourteenth bishop and the eleventh archbishop to lead the Archdiocese of New York. Dolan submitted his mandatory letter of retirement upon turning 75 in February.

Dolan will continue to oversee the archdiocese as apostolic administrator until Archbishop-designate Hicks formally takes office on Feb. 6, 2026, at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

The ceremony will be presided over by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the United States.

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Dolan most recently participated in the conclave that elected Pope Leo XIV in May. He also participated in the conclave that elected Pope Francis in March 2013.

"The last week since I found out, I've gotten to know him [Hicks]. And I already love him and appreciate him and trust him. Is there sadness in my heart? Sure. Because I love the archdiocese in New York. That sadness is mitigated by the gift that this new archbishop already is," said Dolan at a press conference.

Hicks grew up in the south suburbs of Chicago and was ordained as a priest for the archdiocese in 1994. After early pastoral assignments in Chicago, he shifted into seminary leadership roles and later spent five years in El Salvador as regional director for Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos, a Catholic charitable organization.

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He returned to Illinois in 2015 and was named vicar general of the Archdiocese of Chicago. Pope Francis appointed him auxiliary bishop in 2018, and he became bishop of the Diocese of Joliet in 2020. 

In the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), Hicks chairs the Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations and sits on the Episcopal Advisory Board for the Catholic Leadership Institute.

"I would like to simply begin by expressing my heartfelt gratitude to Pope Leo the 14th for this appointment," Hicks told reporters Thursday.

"If you want to know the core of who I am and what I stand for, you should know this: I love Jesus with my mind, heart, and soul, and I strive to love my neighbor as myself. My desire is to be obedient to the Holy Spirit and to do the will of God, serving with a shepherd's heart," he added. "I trust, and I surrender my life and my will to God, and with great humility, I accept this appointment. I ask for your prayers. I ask for your support as we take these next steps together."

Responding to a question about immigration and New York’s Latino community, Hicks said he agrees with the USCCB’s recent statement on the issue, stressing the importance of both border security and treating migrants with dignity and respect under due process.

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The archbishop-designate has spoken warmly about his relationship with Pope Leo XIV, who grew up in the neighboring Chicago suburb of Dolton.

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"He doesn’t seem like some figure or theory out there. But he’s a normal guy from a normal neighborhood we grew up in. For me, it makes him so relatable," Hicks told WGN Chicago.

"I recognize a lot of similarities between him and me. So we grew up literally in the same radius, in the same neighborhood together," he said. "We played in the same parks, went swimming in the same pools, liked the same pizza places to go to. I mean, it’s that real."