After the election of the new mayor of New York, Zohran Mamdani, the Vatican is in a certain way associated with the political turning point of the city by jubilant as archbishop of the city Timothy Dolan, heavyweight of the ultraconservative wing of the Catholic Church, both inside and outside the EE UU, and above all, declared fan of Donald Trump. He will replace Ronald A. Hicks, younger, 58 years old, representative of a Church close to the poor and immigrants, considered to come from Francisco’s lineage. Dolan was a symbol and represented a clear change in times.
Hicks also has a profile similar to Leo XIV, originally from his own city, Chicago, and lived for five years in El Salvador running an orphanage and a humanitarian organization. In addition, for years he was Vicar General of Cardinal Blase Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago, a reference for the most progressive sector of the Church, also in this case in EE UU and the rest of the world.
Pope Leo Dolan is close to the President of the United States and describes, for example, the far-right activist Charlie Kirk, assassinated last September, as “modern San Pablo”.
The powerful cardinal of New York, who spent 16 years in office and was one of the great vote collectors of the conclave – and following the reconstructions of the papal election, showed himself in favor of Robert Prévost – presented his resignation last February after having completed 75 years, while marked ecclesiastical standards reach this age. However, what is normal at the Santa Sede is that the bishops continue for a few more years, in recognition of their work. When this is not the case, it can be interpreted as a subtle reproach to the Pope or for other reasons which are not public.
In this case, Dolan could be one of the first archbishops to experience what could be a change of habits in this context, since Leo XIV had argued that he was in favor of making resignations effective before reaching 75 years of age to renew the Church. He said some time ago that he had to “learn to say goodbye.” Among other 11 American dioceses, their bishops will be 75 years old in 2026, which means that a big change of face is expected in the Church of EE UU, led by Leo XIV.
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