By Jessica Easthope
In the seven weeks between Archbishop Ronald Hicks’ announcement as Cardinal Timothy Dolan’s successor and his installation, not much has changed in the Archdiocese of New York.
“It’s been business as usual,” vicar general for the archdiocese, Monsignor Joseph LaMorte, told Currents News. “Cardinal Dolan is still the apostolic administrator. He’s still very present. Archbishop Hicks is taking leave in his own diocese, so he hasn’t really been here in New York. So I would say that there’s nothing out of the ordinary except for additional work. Everybody’s been busy trying to focus in on the details of what’s going to take place on February 5 and 6.”
During the transition, Cardinal Dolan’s name is still used during the Eucharistic prayer at Masses at St. Patrick’s Cathedral and he remains the apostolic administrator running the archdiocese.
“For the average Catholic in the pew, they’re not going to notice a difference,” said Joseph Zwilling, director of communications for the archdiocese. “You know, his name is still used in the Eucharistic prayer. We pray for him every week. Cardinal Dolan has been speaking with Archbishop Hicks on an almost daily basis, letting him know what’s going on, keeping him updated on things, finding out how he wants things handled.”
After the two celebrated Mass together in New York City on December 18, Archbishop Hicks returned to his Chicago suburb for the Christmas holiday and the Epiphany. Meanwhile, New York staff prepared background materials for Archbishop Hicks on the archdiocese, its people, its parishes and its challenges. When Archbishop Hicks is installed, he will handle it all in his own way.
“He’s a different man than Cardinal Dolan,” Zwilling said. “You know, they expect him to be the same. He’s got his own style of doing things, his own strengths, his own way of going about doing things, but he’s an exceptionally kind man. He’s an exceptionally warm man. And I think the people of New York are really going to take to him.”