New York's Archbishop-designate Ronald Hicks to be formally installed at St. Patrick's Cathedral
Bishop Ronald Hicks will officially assume his new title as New York's archbishop at a service Friday afternoon.
The installation Mass will take place at 2 p.m. at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Midtown Manhattan. It will start with the Illinois-native knocking on the doors where Cardinal Timothy Dolan will welcome him in, marking the start of an official transfer of leadership.
A vespers ceremony was held Thursday night, which included psalms, hymns, scriptures and prayers. This gave clergy and religious people a way to pray for the new archbishop and the diocese.
CBS News New York will stream the full installation Mass with special coverage starting at 1:30 p.m.
The installation ceremony will be full of symbolism
The larger-than-normal Mass will feature many important symbols.
The 58-year-old will be formally appointed as an official document from Pope Leo XIV is read. Then, he will sit in the cathedra, which is the bishop's chair. This symbolizes his new authority over the archdiocese.
Two thousand people are expected to attend, including numerous religious figures such as bishops, priests and deacons.
At a news conference Thursday, Hicks said there will also be representatives from other faith traditions, "plus we'll have people from government, business, labor, service, education, first responders, the arts."
Some of Hicks' family members will also attend. His brother, sister-in-law, cousin and her husband will be bringing up the gifts at Mass, and his oldest nephew read at the vespers ceremony.
Scriptures, psalms and gospels will be read, and the Holy Communion will be given, like a typical Mass.
The archbishop-designate also said the ceremony will feature some Spanish because it's important to include the Latino community.
Tasks on the agenda for the new archbishop
One of the incoming archbishop's biggest first tasks will be overseeing the implementation of a $300 million settlement that Cardinal Dolan finalized to compensate sex abuse victims who sued the church.
He will also have to navigate relations with the Trump administration and its immigration crackdown. This is a topic he has not shied away from.
"My message is, how do we treat each other with respect? How simply do we see each other as brothers and sisters? And. And use that as a foundation for everything else," he said.
Hicks' ties to Pope Leo XIV
Hicks comes to New York from the diocese of Joliet, Illinois.
He grew up in suburban Chicago, just 14 blocks away from the pope's childhood home.
Besides their shared roots, both men speak fluent Spanish and ministered to the poor in South America.
"They come from almost the same neighborhood in suburban Chicago, and they spent those years as missionaries in Latin America. It gave them a whole new perspective, a shared perspective on what the church needs to do," said Fordham University's David Gibson.
Hicks lived in El Salvador for five years, starting in 2005, working as a regional director of an organization caring for orphaned and abandoned children.
