He’s letting Jesus take the wheel.
Timothy Cardinal Dolan’s 16-year tenure as Archbishop of New York came to an end on Thursday, with a bishop from Pope Leo XIV’s native Windy City set to assume the holy throne.
Pope Leo accepted Dolan’s resignation and appointed Bishop Ronald Hicks from his home state of Illinois as Dolan’s successor as the head of the Archdiocese of New York, the Vatican confirmed.
Hicks, 58, head of the Diocese of Joliet, had been rumored to be next in line after Dolan reached the mandatory retirement age of 75 in February, church insiders told The Post earlier this week.
The Holy Father, born Robert Prevost, hails from the South Side of Chicago, not far from Joliet.
He is the first American pontiff in the 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church.
Hicks grew up in South Holland, Ill., and was named the sixth bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Joliet by Pope Francis in July 2020 and was installed at the Cathedral of St. Raymond Nonnatus two months later, according to his diocese profile.
Hicks commented on the new hometown pope’s ascension in May.
“He doesn’t seem like some figure or theory out there,” he told WGN-TV News at the time. “But he’s a normal guy from a normal neighborhood we grew up in. For me, it makes him so relatable.”
Hicks will not inherit the hefty legal settlement hanging over the Archdiocese in New York.
The church is scrambling to raise $300 million to settle about 1,300 child sex abuse claims against clergy and lay staffers, which has led to cost-cutting measures, layoffs and the sale of valuable church property.
The Archdiocese announced it is selling off the land beneath the ritzy Lotte New York Palace hotel in Midtown for $490 million, and a former headquarters on First Avenue for $100 million.
The proceeds would pay for the pending settlement and to pay off loans from earlier settlements.
Dolan has long been open about the need to compensate victims of sexual abuse by the church, and said this month that the scandal “brought shame upon our church,” asking the victims for forgiveness.
On Wednesday, a church abuse survivors’ group asked Pope Leo to reassure the victims that Dolan’s commitment to settle the claims would not change with the leadership change.
“It is precisely in light of these commitments that the timing of a leadership transition in New York is so concerning,” the Coalition for Just & Compassionate Compensation wrote to the Holy Father.
“An announcement at this juncture — whether intentional or made without full appreciation of its impact — risks delaying, destabilizing, or undermining an active mediation process that is already underway and supported by concrete financial and institutional steps,” the letter said.
“For survivors, such disruption would not be procedural. It would be deeply personal and harmful.”
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