Archbishop Ronald Hicks marks inaugural Sunday Mass with cheeky nods to NYC rivals

Big Apple Archbishop Ronald Hicks marked his inaugural Sunday Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral cheekily revealing that New Yorkers are already trying to convert him away from his hometown Chicago Cubs and deep-dish pizza.

Hicks, the 58-year-old former bishop of Joliet, Ill., gave his first homily after being was officially installed at the helm of the New York Archdiocese on Friday, taking the reins from Cardinal Timothy Dolan.

The archbishop, addressing hundreds of congregants in what he called “America’s parish church” in Manhattan, talked about the word “however” and how it can be used to show a “deeper reality and a deeper truth.

“The word ‘however’ introduces a contrast and not necessarily a contradiction,” the 11th archbishop of New York said.

“Many people are going to go to a Super Bowl party today. However, some of them will only watch the commercials,” he said.

“People here in New York have been saying to me, …. ‘It’s good that you’re a Cub fan. However, we’re going to get you to a Yankees game or a Mets game.’

” ‘It’s fine that you like deep-dish pizza. However, you are going to love New York pizza,” the top clergyman said. he was told.

The newly minted archbishop emphasized what he has vowed to make a priority in the archdiocese: evangelizing, or spreading the word of Christianity.

“We bring light and salt to the world in that missionary spirit when we catechize, evangelize and put our faith into action,” he told worshippers.

“We bring this missionary church to the world when we are disciples who make disciples, passing our faith onto the next generation.” 

Hicks — the archdiocese’s first new leader since 2009 – also emphasized the duties of “taking care of poor and vulnerable people” and defending life from “conception to our natural death.”

The archbishop, who is fluent in Spanish, began his homily with the sign of the cross in the language.

Hicks spent five years caring for the poor and overseeing an orphanage in El Salvador before serving as a bishop in the Chicago area and later making the move to New York, when he was named to the local post by Pope Leo XIV in December.

The archbishop was welcomed into his new home church during a ceremony Friday laden with tradition, which began with him making three knocks on the door of St. Pat’s with a small gold-colored tack hammer. 

Before Dolan left the position, he inked a $300 million settlement involving sex-abuse victims of clergy in the archdiocese. Hicks will now have to oversee the deal’ls implementation.  

The archdiocese includes Manhattan, The Bronx and Staten Island as well as parts north of the city. It’s among the largest in the country with an estimated 2.5 million Catholics.

During his remarks on Sunday, Hicks encouraged the congregation to “protect children, promote healing for survivors and those wounded by the church – and, when we show respect for all, building unity across cultures and generations.”