Pope Leo XIV has appointed Bishop Ronald A. Hicks of Joliet as the next archbishop of New York, marking a decisive shift in leadership style for one of the most visible dioceses in the United States.

Hicks, 58, succeeds Cardinal Timothy Dolan, whose resignation was accepted after he reached the mandatory retirement age of 75 in February. The appointment, announced today (Dec. 18) by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, ends months of speculation and places a bishop with a markedly pastoral and missionary profile at the helm of an archdiocese facing institutional and financial restructuring and deep cultural change.