“Not a Country Club” — Archbishop Hicks Ushers in New Era in New York
At a jubilant installation Mass filled with Spanish hymns and immigrant voices, Archbishop Ronald Hicks made clear his vision a New York Catholic Church that “exists to go out and serve all.”
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Inside St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Friday, the newly installed Archbishop Hicks delivered a striking first homily that set the tone for his ministry.
“This is a call to be a missionary church, not a country club,” he declared. “A club exists to serve its members. The church exists, on the other hand, to go out and serve all people — on fire, with faith, with hope and charity in the name of Jesus Christ.”
Hicks drove the point home by adding, “We exist to follow Jesus, who fed the hungry, healed those ill in body and spirit, rejected hatred and proclaimed love.”
In other words, the Catholic Church’s mission is service to all, especially the marginalized – not catering to a comfortable few. This bold call for an outward-facing, inclusive Church echoed the pastoral priorities of Pope Francis and Pope Leo XIV.
Hicks even quoted Francis’s famous plea “todos, todos, todos” — everyone, everyone, everyone — underlining his commitment to a church that welcomes everyone.
The two-hour installation liturgy itself reflected that ethos of universality. Archbishop Hicks — a fluent Spanish speaker — ensured that virtually every prayer, reading and hymn was bilingual.
According to the National Catholic Reporter, by Hicks’s request, every reading, chant, prayer, and the homily itself unfolded in both English and Spanish.
He specifically asked for beloved Spanish-language hymns to be included, and he began his homily by singing a line from “Alma Misionera” (“Missionary Soul”), a hymn familiar to Latino Catholics.
In a particularly moving moment, the first Scripture reading was proclaimed in Spanish by Samuel Jiménez Coreas — a Salvadoran layman whose life Hicks had touched decades ago.
As a boy, Jiménez Coreas lived in the El Salvador orphanage that then-Fr. Hicks led; now, having immigrated to the U.S. and built a new life, he stood at the ambo of St. Patrick’s to read from Scripture.
By inviting this survivor of violence and migration to share God’s word, Hicks sent a powerful message of solidarity with immigrants and the poor.
Indeed, at every turn New York’s new archbishop signaled that Latinos, immigrants and the marginalized will be at the heart of his ministry.
Even the very walls of St. Patrick’s Cathedral underscored that message. Towering over the entrance is a newly unveiled 25-foot mural celebrating generations of immigrants to New York City.
Commissioned by Cardinal Dolan and dedicated just a few months ago, the mural depicts 19th-century Irish families disembarking from ships alongside modern-day immigrant families with luggage, watched over by saints like Mother Cabrini and Servant of God Dorothy Day who devoted their lives to newcomers.
Dolan called the piece “a celebration of a city that has been built by immigrants and where immigrants have been welcomed,” with imagery rooted in the Church’s mission to “welcome the stranger.”
That sprawling artwork — which also honors first responders, many themselves of immigrant origin — formed the backdrop as Hicks knocked on the cathedral’s great doors and was welcomed inside under the gaze of immigrants past and present.
The symbolism was hard to miss: New York’s Catholic story, past and future, is one of openness to the stranger. Hicks’s installation Mass, framed by that mural and enriched by Spanish songs and readings, served as a vivid visual catechesis on the Church’s call to be a home for all nations.
The timing of Archbishop Hicks’s arrival makes his inclusive approach especially significant. President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance’s administration has been carrying out aggressive mass deportation raids — policies that Pope Leo XIV and Hicks’s fellow U.S. bishops have repeatedly denounced as cruel and contrary to Gospel values.
In this climate of fear for immigrant communities, the new Archbishop of New York chose to celebrate a large portion of his inaugural Mass in Spanish, the mother tongue of many of those targeted by the raids.
Hicks’s decision to preside and preach in Spanish at America’s most prominent Catholic cathedral was a bold, unmistakable statement. As one observer noted, Hicks “made it very clear that we are a missionary church who evangelize to the streets”.
Amid the sirens and rhetoric of deportation crackdowns, the sight of New York’s Catholic leader joyfully addressing the faithful in Español — “the language of our abuelitas,” as some parishioners beamed — delivered hope and solidarity. Maria Galvez, a Salvadoran-born parishioner who has attended St. Patrick’s for 20 years, was moved to tears hearing her new archbishop speak her language.
“It’s emotional,” she told Religion News Service. “I feel very happy that we have a bishop that speaks Spanish. I feel that he’s very genuine.” For countless New York Catholics like her, Hicks’s words and gestures on this day affirmed that “you belong. Esta es su casa.”
Beyond the cultural flourishes, Hicks’s homily laid out a clear pastoral vision. He described a Church that “feeds the hungry, heals wounds, upholds human dignity, protects children, promotes healing for survivors, cares for creation and builds unity across cultures and generations”.
“I believe the world always has and always will need a missionary church,” Hicks proclaimed, “a church that proclaims Jesus Christ clearly and without fear goes out to the peripheries.”
This agenda aligns tightly with Pope Leo’s emphasis on a “Church of the Poor” and Pope Francis’ call to “go to the margins.”
Hicks, 58, comes well-prepared for that mission: a Chicago native, he spent years serving in Latin America (including five years running Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos orphanage in El Salvador) and later led the Diocese of Joliet in Illinois.
Those experiences have shaped him into what one colleague calls “very much of a missionary” bishop. At the installation Mass, Fr. Jack Wall — a close collaborator of Hicks at Catholic Extension — remarked that it’s providential Hicks will lead New York contemporaneously with Pope Leo’s papacy.
“Ron Hicks and Pope Leo. We all grew up about 10 blocks apart in Chicago,” Wall noted, saying the values instilled in them by that upbringing are the same values now being carried onto a global stage. In Hicks, New York has an archbishop who speaks the language of Pope Leo’s Gospel agenda as fluently as he speaks Spanish.
Friday’s ceremony also marked the formal end of Cardinal Timothy Dolan’s era in New York. Dolan, who turned 76 on the day of the installation, received a rousing standing ovation as he passed the baton to his successor.
For nearly two decades, Dolan’s outsized personality and media-savvy style defined the public face of the Church in New York. He submitted his resignation last year upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75, yet even he admitted he was a bit surprised at how quickly Pope Leo moved to replace him.
“I kind of lived in a perpetual advent, waiting patiently for the appointment of my successor — and bingo — it came, and I am delighted,” Dolan said when Hicks’s appointment was announced.
In his final appearance as archbishop on Fox & Friends, the ever-affable Dolan confessed “there’s some sadness, because I love being Archbishop,” but he also voiced “gratitude after 17 happy years” and enthusiasm for the future.
“I really love my successor — he is extraordinarily impressive,” Dolan told the Fox hosts.
He described feeling “liberated” to hand over the administrative grind while continuing as a priest, and looked forward to more time for simple pleasures like reading, casual walks around the city, and visits with family.
By all accounts, Dolan was at peace with stepping aside. He even got a sweet send-off during the installation Mass: the Apostolic Nuncio, Cardinal Christophe Pierre, led the congregation in singing “Happy Birthday” to Dolan before Hicks took his seat in the cathedra.
Yet Dolan’s final months in office were not without controversy. Ever a favorite of conservative media, the cardinal made headlines in September when he praised the late right-wing agitator Charlie Kirk as “a modern-day St. Paul” after Kirk was killed in a shooting.
“He was a missionary, he’s an evangelist, he’s a hero — one who knew what Jesus meant when he said, ‘The truth will set you free,’” Dolan gushed on Fox News, effectively canonizing the polemical Turning Point USA founder.
The remark drew widespread backlash, given Kirk’s well-documented history of incendiary rhetoric against immigrants, women and the pope himself.
Just weeks before, Dolan had also surprised many by insisting that President Trump “takes his Christian faith seriously” — an assessment sharply disputed by those familiar with Trump’s spotty religious practice.
These parting gestures of goodwill toward MAGA figures highlighted the ideological balancing act of Dolan’s tenure: a churchman who opposed harsh anti-immigrant policies yet frequently cozied up to their champions.
In contrast, the choice of Ron Hicks as Dolan’s successor sends a clear signal of alignment with Pope Leo’s pastoral vision. Hicks is widely seen as a Francis-Leo bishop — one who prioritizes the poor and builds bridges across cultural divides, rather than courting culture wars.
As the Washington Post bluntly put it, New York’s new archbishop is “a Spanish-speaking ‘mini-me’ of Pope Leo” in his missionary zeal.
As the Mass drew to a close, Archbishop Hicks made one final gesture that endeared him to the people: he asked for their prayers.
“Please, pray for me,” he urged — echoing Pope Francis’ famous request on the night of his election — and promised “I am going to be praying for all of you with great, great gratitude.”
The congregation erupted in applause once more as Hicks processed out to the uplifting strains of “In Christ There Is No East or West,” followed by his beloved “Alma Misionera.”
On the steps of the cathedral, beneath the twin spires and the newly painted angels guarding the doors, a group of faithful broke into song in Spanish to welcome their archbishop.
Hicks waded into the crowd with a broad smile, giving blessings and even joining the chorus. In that moment, the transition was complete.
A new era has begun in New York: an era with a shepherd who speaks the language of his flock — and who is determined that the Church will serve, not just its own, but todos, todos, todos.
On behalf of the millions of American Catholics fighting every day for the dignity of our immigrant sisters and brothers, Letters from Leo stands ready to labor shoulder to shoulder with the new archbishop in service of every one of God’s children.
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I’m sure that won’t be Dolan’s final appearance on Faux and Fiends
Another JPII dinosaur spring-cleaned by Leo XIV
https://www.usccb.org/news/2026/pope-leo-xiv-accepts-resignation-archbishop-samuel-aquila-denver-appoints-bishop-james