Appointment of bishop of Joliet, Illinois, U.S.A.

The Holy Father has appointed Bishop Ronald A. Hicks, currently titular of Munaziana and auxiliary of Chicago, as bishop of the diocese of Joliet, Illinois, United States of America.

Bishop Ronald A. Hicks

Bishop Ronald A. Hicks was born on 4 August 1967 in Chicago, Illinois, in the archdiocese of the same name. He attended the Saint Jude the Apostle School in South Holland, the archdiocesan Quigley Preparatory Seminary (1981-1985), and then Niles College Seminary (1985-1989), obtaining a bachelor’s degree in philosophy at Loyola University in Chicago. He was a volunteer for the Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos Foundation, devoting himself for a year to the care of orphans and abandoned children. He carried out his ecclesiastical studies at the University of Saint Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein, Illinois (1990-1994). He subsequently qualified as a Doctor of Ministry at the same university (2003).

He was ordained a priest for the archdiocese of Chicago on 21 May 1994.

Since priestly ordination he has held the following roles: parish vicar of the Our Lady of Mercy parish in Chicago (1994-1996) and of the Saint Elizabeth Seton parish in Orland Hills (1996-1999); dean of formation at Saint Joseph College Seminary (1999-2005); regional director of Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos, a charitable organisation for the assistance of orphans and abandoned children in Mexico and El Salvador (2005-2009), and faculty member and then dean of formation of the University of Saint Mary of the Lake Seminary / Mundelein Seminary in Mundelein (2010-2014). Since 2015 he has served as vicar general.

He was appointed as titular bishop of Munaziana and auxiliary of Chicago on 3 July 2018, and was consecrated the following 17 September. As auxiliary of Chicago, he continued as vicar general.