New York - «Jesus already holds the world. And, trusting in Him, we know that He will hold us too». In the homily at Solemn Vespers, on the afternoon of Thursday 5 February in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Ronald A. Hicks placed this spiritual charge at the centre of his preaching on the eve of the canonical taking of possession. The installation is scheduled for Friday 6 February 2026 at 2.00 pm (8.00 pm in Vatican City State).
The new Metropolitan Archbishop - who will be the «eleventh bishop of the Archdiocese of New York» - wished to read the beginning of his ministry as an act of shared trust rather than a display of force: «We are here this evening to pray… together», he said, asking God to bless him and the entire Archdiocese as «we take these next steps… together». The “map” indicated by Hicks was explicit: «to trust in God», «to abandon myself to Him», «to unite my heart to the Heart of Jesus» and «to seek each day, in prayer, the Father’s will», surrounded by «good and faithful» people with whom to serve in ministry. Even the way he recounted the emotions of these weeks remained deliberately restrained: to questions about excitement, anxiety, serenity, the answer was one, repeated: «Yes». The call to lead “brings with it great responsibilities and beautiful gifts”, together with “complexities” and “serious challenges”, but also “joy, goodness and blessing”. The heart of the homily focused on a concrete image, tied precisely to the new city to which he has been called. Hicks evoked the statue of Atlas outside the cathedral: a giant holding the world on his shoulders, bent under the strain. He then invited everyone to “change perspective” by crossing the street and entering the house of God: once through the doors of St Patrick’s, amid the “new murals” in the narthex dedicated to immigrants, New York saints, significant figures and rescuers, one reaches the altar; behind it, a small statue of Christ holding the world “in the palm of His hand”, “with ease, with joy”, without being crushed by its weight. The bishop’s message is clear: faith frees us from the illusion that we must hold everything up alone and directs us to entrust to Christ “challenges and complexities”, with “authority, truth, love and divine mercy”. From here comes the appeal to the faithful: to follow God’s will as a “path of trust”, looking to the Virgin Mary as the example of a “yes” that spans an entire life, even in moments of sorrow and uncertainty. In this line, the Archbishop-elect “humbly” asked for prayers for himself, promising to pray for the people of the Archdiocese “for all the days of my life”, and he closed with the words of Saint Teresa of Ávila: «Let nothing disturb you, let nothing frighten you. God alone is enough».
The new Archbishop of New York
The biography of Msgr Hicks shows a profile long matured in formation and in the responsibility of governance. Born in Harvey (Illinois) on 4 August 1967, he followed his seminary path in Chicago, earning a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy at Loyola University Chicago; he then devoted a year as a volunteer with the Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos foundation, serving orphans and abandoned children. He completed his ecclesiastical studies at the University of Saint Mary of the Lake Seminary (Master of Divinity) and in 2003 obtained his doctorate. Ordained a priest on 21 May 1994 by Cardinal Joseph Louis Bernardin for the Archdiocese of Chicago, he served as a parochial vicar, then as dean of formation at Saint Joseph College Seminary; he led Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos as regional director in Mexico and El Salvador; and became vicar general from 1 January 2015.
Pope Francis appointed him auxiliary bishop of Chicago and titular bishop of Munaziana on 3 July 2018; he received episcopal ordination on 17 September 2018 from Cardinal Blase Joseph Cupich. In July 2020 he was appointed Bishop of Joliet, taking possession of the diocese on 29 September. On 18 December 2025 Pope Leo XIV promoted him to Metropolitan Archbishop of New York. In addition to English, he speaks Spanish, an element that also returns in the Vespers preaching, marked by bilingual greetings and passages. With the canonical taking of possession on 6 February, the new ministry of pastoral governance will formally begin; at the same time, the Apostolic Administrator, Cardinal Timothy Michael Dolan, will cease his responsibilities and assume the title of Archbishop Emeritus.
fr. M.V.
Silere non possum