Archbishop Ronald Hicks reflects on first months as leader of New York's Catholic Church
NEW YORK (WABC) -- Just over three months into his new role as Archbishop of New York, Ronald Hicks says he has already been overwhelmed by support of New Yorkers of all backgrounds.
In a wide-ranging interview with Eyewitness News anchor Joe Torres on Wednesday, the archbishop opened up about his connection with the city's diverse communities, how he's confronted the church's ongoing challenges and why he believes more young people are turning back to faith.
After 110 days on the job as New York's Catholic leader and archbishop, Hicks says a delightful surprise has been the warm embrace from not just Catholics, but from people across all faiths.
"A construction worker or a guy who is selling me a slice of pizza will say, 'Hey! You're the new one, right? Well, welcome to New York. Congratulations. We are behind you.' And I guess I wasn't expecting that," Hicks said.
Early in his ministry, Archbishop Hicks spent five years living in El Salvador and serving the church throughout Central America.
During that time, he generated a fluency in Spanish and an appreciation for Latino culture.
He admits those attributes will serve him well in ministering to that segment of the faithful -- and perhaps helped convince the pope he was the right choice for New York.
"There is a need and the Holy Father has seen it and I am sure he wanted to make sure the Spanish speaking population were attended to also by the shepherd," Hicks said.
The clergy sex abuse scandal loomed over the church long before Archbishop Hicks' arrival in New York.
But just a month ago, the Archdiocese proposed an $800 million payout to settle the hundreds of claims filed by sex abuse survivors.
Extracting that sum of money from the everyday operations of the church requires some financial belt-tightening.
"We are currently looking at how do we leverage some of our properties that will be sold, how do we have some contributions from different organizations that are going to help get us through this," he said.
He says the encouraging news involves the substantial number of Catholics who have returned to the church in New York, across the country and around the world.
He said he sees two reasons for the spiritual resurgence.
"First of all, it's God, but secondly, I think young people have seen some brokenness that the world is in right now and they are looking for some healing," Hicks said. "They are looking for some community."
The 58-year-old from Illinois says his favorite sports teams are based in Chicago. So despite the current success of the New York Knicks, he says any chants of "Hicks for Knicks" will do little to change his allegiance.
"I will always be a Bulls fan. I will always be a Cubs fan. I am loyal to my teams," Hicks said. "New Yorkers get that also...if you are loyal to your team, you are loyal to your team."
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