He’s letting Jesus take the wheel.
Timothy Cardinal Dolan’s 16-year tenure as Archbishop of New York got here to an finish on Thursday, with a bishop from Pope Leo XIV’s native Windy Metropolis set to imagine the holy throne.
Pope Leo accepted Dolan’s resignation and appointed Bishop Ronald Hicks from his house state of Illinois as Dolan’s successor as the top of the Archdiocese of New York, the Vatican confirmed.
Hicks, 58, head of the Diocese of Joliet, had been rumored to be subsequent in line after Dolan reached the obligatory retirement age of 75 in February, church insiders advised The Submit earlier this week.
The Holy Father, born Robert Prevost, hails from the South Aspect of Chicago, not removed from Joliet.
He’s the primary American pontiff within the 2,000-year historical past of the Catholic Church.
Hicks grew up in South Holland, In poor health., and was named the sixth bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Joliet by Pope Francis in July 2020 and was put in on the Cathedral of St. Raymond Nonnatus two months later, in line with his diocese profile.
Hicks commented on the brand new hometown pope’s ascension in Could.
“He doesn’t appear to be some determine or idea on the market,” he advised WGN-TV Information on the time. “However he’s a traditional man from a traditional neighborhood we grew up in. For me, it makes him so relatable.”
Hicks won’t inherit the hefty authorized settlement hanging over the Archdiocese in New York.
The church is scrambling to lift $300 million to settle about 1,300 baby intercourse abuse claims in opposition to clergy and lay staffers, which has led to cost-cutting measures, layoffs and the sale of useful church property.
The Archdiocese introduced it’s promoting off the land beneath the ritzy Lotte New York Palace lodge in Midtown for $490 million, and a former headquarters on First Avenue for $100 million.
The proceeds would pay for the pending settlement and to repay loans from earlier settlements.
Dolan has lengthy been open about the necessity to compensate victims of sexual abuse by the church, and stated this month that the scandal “introduced disgrace upon our church,” asking the victims for forgiveness.
On Wednesday, a church abuse survivors’ group requested Pope Leo to reassure the victims that Dolan’s dedication to settle the claims wouldn’t change with the management change.
“It’s exactly in mild of those commitments that the timing of a management transition in New York is so regarding,” the Coalition for Simply & Compassionate Compensation wrote to the Holy Father.
“An announcement at this juncture — whether or not intentional or made with out full appreciation of its affect — dangers delaying, destabilizing, or undermining an energetic mediation course of that’s already underway and supported by concrete monetary and institutional steps,” the letter stated.
“For survivors, such disruption wouldn’t be procedural. It might be deeply private and dangerous.”
