Pope Leo replaced Cardinal Timothy Dolan as leader of the Catholic Church in New York, the Vatican announced on Thursday, sidelining a prominent U.S. Church figure in a major shake-up of the country's Catholic leadership.

While many New York Catholics may be sad to see Dolan stepping down, the cardinal assured them Pope Leo left them in good hands.

News of Cardinal Timothy Dolan's replacement marked one of the most important appointments from Pope Leo XIV so far, but why did Dolan resign from his position and what sparked the change?

Pope Leo appointed a relatively unknown cleric from Illinois, Bishop Ronald Hicks, to replace Dolan as leader of the nation's second-largest Catholic diocese.

Multiple news reports indicated that Pope Leo XIV had chosen Bishop Ronald Hicks, 58, of the Diocese of Joliet, Illinois — the pontiff's hometown is on the south side of Chicago — to be the next archbishop of New York.

Pope Leo XIV named Bishop Ronald Hicks of Joliet, Illinois, as the replacement for Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York’s Roman Catholic archdiocese. Dolan submitted his resignation in February as required when he turned 75 years old,

Bishop Ronald Hicks, head of the Diocese of Joliet in Pope Leon’s home state of Illinois, will take over the Archdiocese of New York.

Pope Leo has appointed Bishop Ronald Hicks to replace Cardinal Timothy Dolan, a friend of President Donald Trump who has served in the position since 2009, as New York’s newest archbishop, a major shake-up in the country’s Catholic leadership that appears to continue the pontiff’s pushback against Trump’s aggressive immigration crackdown.