Bishop Ronald Hicks has been an acolyte of Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich, and is one of the pope's first major U.S. appointments since being elected as worldwide leader of the Catholic church following the death of Pope Francis.

For the world's 1.4 billion Catholics and for millions of other people as well, the Catholic Church's 2025 was primarily about the death of Pope Francis and the election of Pope Leo XIV.

While the Vatican has detailed laws and rituals to ensure the transfer of power when a pope dies or resigns, they do not apply if he is sick or even unconscious. And there are no specific norms outlining what happens to the leadership of the Catholic ...

Like Leo, Hicks has embraced a more welcoming and inclusive vision of Catholicism, in part inspired by the late Pope Francis, with a specific focus on social justice.

Pope Leo has appointed a new archbishop of New York who has first-hand experience of countries from where millions have emigrated to the United States, signaling the potential for a more outspoken approach from bishops on immigration.

Vogue included Pope Leo XIV in its list of the 55 Best Dressed People of 2025, an unranked roundup of what the fashion outlet called "extremely fashionable characters."

Pope Leo has appointed Bishop Ronald Hicks to replace Cardinal Timothy Dolan, a friend of President Donald Trump who has served in the position since 2009, as New York’s newest archbishop, a major shake-up in the country’s Catholic leadership that appears to continue the pontiff’s pushback against Trump’s aggressive immigration crackdown.