Pope Leo replaces New York's Cardinal Dolan in shake-up of US Church

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Leo replaced Cardinal Timothy Dolan as leader of the Catholic Church in New York, the Vatican announced on Thursday, sidelining a prominent US Church figure in a major shake-up of the country's Catholic leadership.

Leo, the first US pope, appointed a relatively unknown cleric from Illinois, Bishop Ronald Hicks, to replace Dolan as leader of the nation's second-largest Catholic diocese, home to some 2.8 million Church members.

Dolan, Archbishop of New York since 2009 and a former president of the US Catholic bishops' conference, offered to resign in February upon turning 75, as required by Church law. Cardinals often serve until 80, the mandatory retirement age.

"Hicks represents not just a new chapter for New York but for the American church as a whole," said David Gibson, a US Church expert.

POPE PICKS FELLOW CHICAGOAN TO LEAD NEW YORK CHURCH

Hicks, 58, has been leader of the Church in Joliet, seat of Will County in Illinois, since 2020. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop, or deputy, under Chicago's Cardinal Blase Cupich.

His biography has several similarities to Leo's. They are both originally from south Chicago suburbs but spent years as missionaries in Latin America - Leo in Peru while Hicks in El Salvador.

"(Leo) is elevating to the most prominent American see an Illinois native very much like himself," said Gibson, director of Fordham University's Center on Religion and Culture.

The Archdiocese of New York is a sprawling and influential institution, serving Catholics across Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island and in seven counties to the north across 296 parishes and hundreds of Catholic schools and hospitals.

Leo's replacement of Dolan comes as the archdiocese is struggling to raise more than $300 million for expected settlements with survivors of abuse by Catholic clergy.

The archdiocese has entered mediation with some 1,300 alleged survivors, with Dolan announcing on December 8 the archdiocese would cut its operating budget by 10%, lay off staff and sell properties as it sought to raise funds for payouts.

Hicks will be installed in his new role on February 6, the New York archdiocese said in a statement. Dolan will remain as temporary leader in the interim.

HICKS SEEN AS SUPPORTER OF POPE FRANCIS' REFORMS

Gibson said Hicks is "a soft-spoken Midwesterner who embraces the reformist line of Pope Francis and who is respected by many across the divides in a polarized church."

The late Pope Francis, who led Catholicism for 12 years until his death in April, pursued a reform agenda and tried to make the Church more inclusive of a diverse range of viewpoints, sometimes creating pushback from conservative cardinals.

In an October pastoral letter to the roughly 520,000 Catholics in Joliet, Hicks did not address political issues or Church reforms and instead urged his people to focus on their prayer lives and to spread their faith among others.

Dolan is seen as a leading conservative among the US bishops, who have become more divided in recent years amid deepening political polarization in the country.

The cardinal delivered one of the invocations at US President Donald Trump's second inauguration and praised right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk as a "modern-day St. Paul", sparking online criticism from a range of Catholics.

Dolan, known for a gregarious personality, is a frequent guest on the conservative Fox & Friends talk show and hosts his own weekly program on SiriusXM's The Catholic Channel.