Ronald Hicks takes possession as Archbishop of New York appealing to human dignity

New York.- Prelate Ronald Hicks, 58, assumed this Friday as the new archbishop of New York in an event held at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan, in English and Spanish, in which he appealed to the Church to “defend human dignity in all possible ways.”

“The Church exists to proclaim Jesus Christ to everyone, publicly and credibly, without fear, in every culture and circumstance. A Church that defends human dignity in all possible forms, a Church that follows the example of Jesus, who leans beyond his own community and presents the Samaritan as an example of goodness. This is the type of Church I believe in,” he said after taking possession and celebrating his first mass as archbishop.

Hicks became the eleventh archbishop of the city after receiving, during a traditional and strict ceremony, the crosier from his predecessor, Timothy Dolan, who held the position since 2019 and resigned upon turning 75, as established by the Church.

After getting confused in an embrace, Hicks headed to the chair, the chair or throne from which he presides, representing his ministry of teaching, authority and government over the archdiocese, with more than 2.5 million parishioners. Shortly before, and following the ancient ceremony, Hicks knocked on the central door of the cathedral from the outside with a small golden hammer and made the sign of the cross, and when his figure appeared on the closed-circuit monitors of the church, a loud applause was heard.

As the door opened and another round of applause was heard, he was greeted by Dolan, -whose birthday was celebrated today- accompanied by at least a hundred bishops and cardinals and by the apostolic nuncio Christophe Pierre, and then they began a procession to the altar.

You can also read: New York joins states that have declared an emergency

Hicks, who was born in Chicago, was appointed archbishop on December 8 by Pope Leo XIV, proclaims that it was read by the nuncio at the beginning of the ceremony, where Spanish was very present in the liturgy and songs, after which he showed the document to the clergy, went down the stairs of the altar and walked down the central aisle of the church to also proudly show it to his guests. The new archbishop spent five years in El Salvador (2005-2010) at the head of the organization Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos (NPH) for orphaned and abandoned children, as well as directing and supervising programs in nine countries, which has had a great influence on his pastoral vision and for which he assures, he has the Latin community in his heart. As part of the ceremony, Samuel Jiménez, whom Hicks considers family and who traveled from Central America, read the first reading, in Spanish. “Lord, take my life before the wait wears away years of me. I am willing to do whatever you want, no matter what it is. You, take me to serve. Those are the lyrics of the song ‘Alma misionera’, one of my favorites in the Catholic Church, because we are all called to be missionary disciples,” the archbishop also stated in Spanish during his message to more than 2,000 people who packed the cathedral. “My heart is filled with gratitude and I want to begin precisely with gratitude. First of all, I give thanks to God, creator of life and giver of life, spirit of unity,” continued the archbishop, who smiled frequently and denoted humility. Today’s event was attended by political, religious, business, arts, education leaders, members of the Catholic hierarchy and clergy, as well as the religious figure’s family, and it took place under heavy police surveillance. Hicks, who displays on his episcopal shield a tribute to the Salvadoran archbishop Óscar Arnulfo Romero (1917-1980), asked to “continue until death with the faith we profess.” Quoting music again, Hicks, who said he almost always has “a song playing” in his head, mentioned in his speech one of the most iconic Spanish songs about New York, a hit by El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, ‘Un verano en Nueva York’ (A Summer in New York) and that he said sums up his impression of living and working now in this city.

“If you want to have fun with charm and grace, you just have to spend a summer in New York“, he cited again in Spanish, not without first clarifying that “Chicago will always be my favorite city”.