New Catholic archbishop of New York wants a church that 'shows respect for all' and builds unity

Ronald Hicks was installed Friday as the 11th archbishop of New York in a ceremony at the revered St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan, calling on Catholics to spread the faith while respecting all people and helping the vulnerable.

With a few thousand people in the cathedral and hundreds more packing the streets outside, Hicks officially succeeded the retiring Cardinal Timothy Dolan in an elaborate Mass that included choir singing, prayers and readings from the Gospel.

“We are called to be a missionary church, a church that catechizes, evangelizes and puts our faith into action," Hicks said. "A church made up of missionary disciples who go out and make disciples, passing the faith on from one generation to the next. A church that takes care of the poor and the vulnerable. A church that defends, respects and upholds life, from conception to a natural death.”

The change in leadership represents a significant new chapter for the U.S. Catholic Church, which is forging a new era with the Chicago-born Pope Leo XIV as the first American pontiff. Leo and the U.S. hierarchy have already shown willingness to challenge the Trump administration on immigration and other issues, and Hicks is seen as very much a Leo-style bishop.

Hicks, 58, was most recently bishop of Joliet, Illinois. He now leads one of the largest archdioceses in the nation that serves roughly 2.5 million Catholics in Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island in New York City, as well as seven counties to the north.

Paying homage to New York, Hicks read a mashup he made from lines from famous songs about the city. “So start spreading the news. I'm starting today,” he declared, playing on the lyrics of Frank Sinatra's “New York, New York.”

The pope chose Hicks in December to replace Dolan, a prominent conservative figure in the U.S. Catholic hierarchy. Dolan had submitted his resignation in February 2025, as required when he turned 75. Friday was Dolan's 76th birthday.

Hicks’ appointment came shortly after Dolan finalized a plan to establish a $300 million fund to compensate victims of sexual abuse who had sued the archdiocese.

Hicks called for a church that “cares for creation, builds bridges, listens and … protects children, promotes healing for survivors and all those who have been wounded by the church. A church that shows respect for all, building unity across cultures and generations.”

The ceremony began when Hicks stood outside the cathedral in his red robe and white mitre and knocked on the front doors three times with a small mallet. He was welcomed into the building by Dolan and received loud applause from the crowd inside.

Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the United States, read the official letter from the pope declaring Hicks as the new archbishop of New York. Hicks then showed the letter to those in attendance before being led by Dolan and Pierre to the cathedra, the archbishop's chair. Hicks officially became the archbishop when he sat down in the cathedra.

Among the attendees were Catholic Church leaders and laity, and representatives from other faiths, government, business, labor, education, the arts and first responders. Some of Hicks' relatives attended, while his parents watched a livestream from their home.

Hicks made some of his remarks in Spanish, acknowledging the city’s large Hispanic population.

Frieda Cabreja, a Queens resident, was among the crowd outside the cathedral cheering Hicks.

“I feel incredible because this is a memorable and historic day,” she said. “I do believe he brings peace and humanity. This country, right now, especially most of New York and in the states, there is a very big crisis of humanity. Right now, we are considered not being an American, even if we are citizens.”

Hicks grew up in South Holland, Illinois, a short distance from the suburban Chicago childhood home of Leo, the former Robert Prevost. Like Prevost, who spent 20 years as a missionary in Peru, Hicks worked for five years in El Salvador heading a church-run orphanage program that operated in nine Latin American and Caribbean countries.

He served as a parish priest in Chicago and dean of training at Mundelein Seminary before Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich made him vicar general of the archdiocese in 2015. Three years later, Hicks was made an auxiliary bishop, and in 2020 Pope Francis named him bishop of Joliet, serving around 520,000 Catholics in seven counties.

Hicks referenced Leo several times and noted the pope's own calls for a missionary purpose, saying: “We exist to follow Jesus, who fed the hungry, healed those ill in body and spirit, rejected hatred and proclaimed love."

Archbishop Ronald Hicks says the Eucharistic prayer during his Mass of Installation at St. Patrick's Cathedral, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Archbishop Ronald Hicks shows the apostolic letter to the congregation after receiving it from Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, during the Mass of Installation at St. Patrick's Cathedral, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

Archbishop Ronald Hicks gives a blessing after his Mass of Installation at St. Patrick's Cathedral, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah, Pool)

New York Archbishop-designate Ronald A. Hicks, who is taking over from Cardinal Timothy Dolan, leaves after his Installation Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral in the Manhattan borough of New York on Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (Angelina Katsanis/ Pool Reuters via AP)

Archbishop-designate Ronald Hicks talks to reporters during a news conference at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Archbishop-designate Ronald Hicks talks to reporters during a news conference at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Archbishop-designate Ronald Hicks talks to reporters during a news conference at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Archbishop-designate Ronald Hicks greets journalists before a news conference at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Archbishop-designate Ronald Hicks laughs during a news conference at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

BEIRUT (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that Israel and Hezbollah have agreed to dial back fighting after he held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and communicated with the Lebanon-militant group through mediators.

Trump announced the development in a social media post following a call with Netanyahu, whose forces recently made their deepest incursion into Lebanon in more than a quarter-century. Trump there would be no Israeli troops "going to Beirut, and any Troops that are on their way, have already been turned back.”

The president said Hezbollah had "agreed that all shooting will stop — That Israel will not attack them, and they will not attack Israel.”

Moments after his message, Israel detected missile launches from Lebanon and warned Israelis in part of northern Israel to take cover in protected spaces.

Trump's comments emerged after Israel’s government ordered strikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut and as Hezbollah fired rockets at northern Israel, including the outskirts of the coastal city of Haifa.

A joint statement by Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the orders to attack targets in Beirut’s southern suburbs followed what they called repeated violations of the ceasefire by Hezbollah and “attacks against our cities and citizens.”

The Israeli military's Arabic spokesman later posted on X that residents should leave the suburbs, adding that if Hezbollah continues attacking Israeli communities, Israel will launch attacks on the area known in Arabic as Dahiyeh, where Hezbollah enjoys wide support.

Hezbollah agreed to halt attacks on Israel when the ceasefire was signed in mid-April, but the militant group resumed the assaults after Israeli strikes in Lebanon that Israel characterized as self-defense. The fighting also presents a major obstacle in the emerging deal to extend the ceasefire in the Iran war. Tehran wants any agreement to include Lebanon.

After Monday's warning, large numbers of people were seen fleeing Dahiyeh, jamming roads leading out of the suburb.

Mohammed Farhat, 23, fled with his brother and parents from Beirut’s southern suburb of Haret Hreik and was heading with his mother on a motorcycle to stay with relatives in another neighborhood.

“We are worried. I am used to it but left for my parents,” the university student said.

Israeli airstrikes overnight on southern Lebanon left six people dead, including a Syrian citizen in a village near the city of Nabatiyeh, the state-run National News Agency said. Israel struck other towns and villages near the major city, close to the strategic Beaufort Castle and other towns the Israeli military captured in recent days.

An airstrike Monday afternoon in the port city of Tyre caused heavy damage to the Jabal Amel Hospital, the Health Ministry said. A video released by the ministry showed shaken women and children inside the hospital, where windows were blown out.

The Israeli military, meanwhile, said its air force had intercepted two projectiles launched from Lebanon toward Israeli territory, as well as a suspicious aerial target in the area where Israeli soldiers operate in southern Lebanon. No injuries were reported, the military said.

Hezbollah said it carried out rocket and missile attacks on northern Israel on Sunday. It said early Monday it attacked Israeli troops in Zawtar al-Sharqieh, just north of the Litani River, and struck what they said was Israeli military infrastructure in Tiberius, a few dozen miles south of the border.

The latest attacks came despite a nominal ceasefire that has been in place since April 17 and just before Lebanon and Israel hold their next round of direct talks in Washington starting Tuesday. Hezbollah has rejected direct talks, counting on pressure from Iran, which has demanded an end to the war in Lebanon in its talks with Washington.

The talks between officials from Israel and Lebanon, which began in April in Washington, were the first in more than three decades between the countries, which have no formal diplomatic relations.

Lebanese officials have been scrambling in diplomatic calls, including with Washington, in a desperate bid to push back Israel’s military escalation after Netanyahu’s announcement, a Lebanese diplomatic official said. Beirut is still committed to holding talks to end the conflict despite the boiling tensions, said the official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi asserted Monday that any ceasefire agreement between Washington and Tehran is a “ceasefire on all fronts, including Lebanon."

“Its violation on one front is a violation of the ceasefire on all fronts," Iran's top diplomat said in a post on X.

Beirut, the Lebanese capital, has been mostly spared from airstrikes since the ceasefire went into effect, apart from two targeted attacks on the city's southern suburbs in May.

The German development minister, Reem Alabali Radovan, had planned to visit Beirut on Monday to meet with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and other officials, but she called off the visit while traveling to the city, citing the possibility of Israeli strikes in the suburbs.

Saudi Arabia condemned Israel’s attacks on Lebanon, saying it “categorically rejects” Israel’s movement into the small Mediterranean nation. The Saudi Foreign Ministry called on the international community to prevent Israel from going deeper into Lebanon.

A U.S. official said late Sunday that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had spoken to Aoun and Netanyahu to propose a fresh path to continue ongoing negotiations, as Trump weighs a tentative ceasefire extension with Iran.

Under the proposal, Hezbollah would halt all attacks on Israel, and Israel would refrain from escalating military operations in Beirut, according to the official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private diplomatic conversations.

The official said Aoun was open to the idea but that Lebanese parliament chief Nabih Berri had responded by demanding that Israel first stop all military action.

The official said the Trump administration does not expect Israel to give up retaliating for Hezbollah strikes on its territory.

Berri, a key Hezbollah ally, said in a statement Sunday that he can guarantee the militant group’s “full, comprehensive and immediate commitment to a ceasefire.” Berri added: “But who will force Israel to stop its aggression?”

Aoun on Monday said in comments released by his office that Lebanon faces "a fierce and condemned Israeli aggression.” Aoun added that his government continues work to end “the suffering of the Lebanese in general and the southerners in particular.”

Later, the president issued a statement reiterating Beirut's commitment to negotiations, saying it is “safer” than war."

“It will not solve the problem within moments, but it is a process that needs time," he said. “And we have no other choice.”

Elsewhere, the United Nations Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting on Lebanon for Monday afternoon.

The latest round of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has killed 3,433 people in Lebanon and displaced more than 1 million people.

Israel’s military said a soldier was killed in southern Lebanon overnight in a drone attack by Hezbollah. Hezbollah’s use of hard-to-detect fiber-optic drones has been deadly for the Israeli military, which is struggling to respond.

According to Netanyahu’s office, at least 26 Israeli soldiers and a defense contractor have been killed in or near southern Lebanon. Two civilians have also been killed in northern Israel.

Melzer reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writers Matthew Lee in Washington and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.

A person walks past the site struck by a rocket fired from Lebanon on Saturday in Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel, Sunday, May 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Cars sit in traffic on a highway as residents flee following an Israeli threat to strike Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Monday, June 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Cars sit in traffic on a highway as residents flee following an Israeli threat to strike Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Monday, June 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Cars sit in traffic on a highway as residents flee following an Israeli threat to strike Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Monday, June 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

A family flees following an Israeli threat to strike Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Monday, June 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

A view of he Beaufort Castle in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, Sunday, May 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)