Pope Leo replaces NYC’s Cardinal Dolan, conservative with close ties to Jewish community

Pope Leo XIV accepts the resignation of Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the influential archbishop of New York who was close to the Jewish community and seen as a leading conservative voice in the US Catholic Church.

Catholic cardinals and bishops are formally required to offer their resignations when reaching the age of 75, as Dolan did earlier this year, but Leo could have kept Dolan in place.

Instead, he is replacing him with 58-year-old Bishop Ronald Hicks, who — like Leo — is a Chicago native who spent significant time in Latin America and who is outspoken on the need for a more humane immigration policy in the US.

Dolan came under fire in September for calling slain conservative commentator Charlie Kirk “a modern-day Saint Paul.”

Dolan visited Israel and Palestinian areas in 2024, while wars against Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran were raging, and ran to a bomb shelter during a major Iranian missile attack.

“Our Palestinian brothers and sisters especially mourn the devastation in Gaza, and they fear that their already precarious situation in the West Bank will become worse,” he wrote afterward. “And our Jewish ancestors in the faith all have horror stories of the vicious Oct. 7 massacre and the constant attacks on Israel.”

Earlier this year, Dolan wrote an essay titled “The Evils of Antisemitism” in The Free Press, in which he lamented “lies about the Jewish people and Judaism spread through social media, the rantings of protesters, and on popular podcasts.”

“Countering such opinions should not fall only to our Jewish brothers and sisters,” the archbishop wrote. “Everyone must do their part. Sometimes in the past, sadly, we have been slow to do so.”

“For any Jewish people who might be reading this, please know: The Catholic Church stands with you in the struggle against antisemitism,” Dolan promised.

Hicks belongs to the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, an international order meant to “support the Christian presence in the Holy Land.”

At the same time, his writing and public statements have barely referenced antisemitism or the war in Gaza launched by the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks.

One exception came in February 2024 when, after meeting with Cardinal Pieterbattista Pizzaballa, the top Catholic official in Israel and neighboring countries, Hicks echoed the Catholic Church’s call for a ceasefire in the war.

“Since October 2023, the conflicts in the Holy Land have escalated into a horrible war,” he wrote. “Most of us follow the news with broken hearts and feel helpless. ”

“The Holy Land holds a powerful place in our hearts and in salvation history. It is where Jesus was born, grew up, taught, prayed, performed miracles, suffered, died, and was resurrected,” Hicks continued. “In solidarity, let us join Cardinal Pizzaballa’s call for an end to the violence and for a just and lasting peace in the Holy Land as we turn to God with prayer, obedience, and love.”