We have a new Shepherd!   This past Friday at 2:00 PM, our new Archbishop was installed as the 11^th Archbishop of New York, His Excellency Ronald A. Hicks, in a very ancient and symbolic ceremony.
 
He came as a visitor and knocked three times at the door of St. Patrick’s Cathedral.  The massive bronze doors swung opened where he was greeted by Cardinal Dolan, he was presented with a crucifix, which he kissed and blessed himself and all around him with holy water.  At the beginning of the Mass, the Papal Bull (an official letter set with the Pope’s seal) was read and presented to the people by the Pope’s nuncio to the United States.  Then the moment he became our new shepherd, he was escorted over to the cathedral, the bishop’s chair, where he was enthroned.  He was then greeted and welcomed by representatives of the Church in New York.
 
Archbishop Hicks was born on August 4, 1967, in Harvey, Illinois. He grew up in South Holland, Illinois, 14 blocks from Robert Prevost, also known as Pope Leo XVI, although they didn’t know each other growing up!
 
Archbishop Hicks was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Chicago on May 21, 1994. He served as an associate pastor in several parishes until 1999. From 1999 to 2005, he became the dean of priestly formation at St. Joseph College Seminary in Chicago.
 
In July 2005, with permission from Cardinal Francis George, Archbishop Hicks moved from Chicago to El Salvador to begin his five-year term as regional director of Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos (NPH) in Central America. NPH is a home dedicated to caring for more than 3,400 orphaned and abandoned children in nine Latin American and Caribbean countries. 
 
From 2010 to 2014, Archbishop Hicks served as the dean of formation at Mundelein Seminary.  He was appointed vicar general of the Archdiocese of Chicago by Cardinal Blase Cupich on January 1, 2015. On September 17, 2018, he was ordained an auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago. 
 
We welcome and pray for him as he is given the task of leading us as a father and shepherd.  
We also look forward to welcoming him eventually to Pearl River and St. Margaret’s.
 
It is with a deep sense of gratitude and affection that we say farewell to Cardinal Dolan as our Archbishop.  He is now known as the Archbishop Emeritus of New York.  We will miss him and his joyful faith, his laughter, and joy of living.   
 
He mentioned to me often how he loved coming to Pearl River.  He has many good memories of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade when he was the grand marshal, and we were blessed many times with his visits to our parish and our school.
 
We pray that he will have a wonderful retirement, and a well-deserved rest from the burdens of leading the Archdiocese of New York.