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New bishop appointed in Diocese of Joliet

Hicks, 52, will be installed at the Cathedral of St. Raymond Nonnatus in Joliet Sept. 29. He will become the sixth bishop of Joliet, succeeding Bishop Emeritus Daniel Conlon, who resigned in May.

Conlon, 71, who had been the diocesan leader since July 2011, announced his retirement after taking a medical leave in late December. Bishop Richard Pates served as apostolic administrator of the diocese until a new bishop could be appointed.

Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich congratulated Hicks on his appointment.

"I will personally miss him as he has served as my Vicar General these past six years with competence and distinction," Cupich said in a statement Friday. "The people of Joliet are getting a leader who is strong, loving and wise, and we look forward to working with him in the years ahead in the Illinois Catholic Conference."

A native of Harvey, Hicks grew up in South Holland, where he attended St. Jude the Apostle Parish and Grade School. He graduated from Quigley Seminary South in 1985.

He received his bachelor's degree in philosophy from Niles College of Loyola University Chicago in 1989 and his master of divinity degree in 1994 and his doctor of ministry degree in 2003, both from the University of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein.

Hicks served as an associate pastor at Our Lady of Mercy Parish in Chicago from 1994 to 1996 and then at St. Elizabeth Seton Parish in Orland Hills from 1996 to 1999. From 1999 to 2005, he lived and ministered at St. Joseph College Seminary as the dean of formation.

In July 2005, with permission from the late Cardinal Francis George, Hicks moved from Chicago to El Salvador to begin his five-year term as regional director of Nuestros Peque#xf1;os Hermanos, Spanish for "Our Little Brothers and Sisters," in Central America. NPH runs homes for more than 3,400 orphaned and abandoned children in nine Latin American and Caribbean countries.

From 2010 to 2014, Hicks served as the dean of formation at Mundelein Seminary. During that time, he assisted with weekend Masses at St. Jerome Parish in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood.

Cupich appointed Hicks vicar general of the Archdiocese on Jan. 1, 2015. Hicks was ordained an auxiliary bishop at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago on Sept. 17, 2018.

The Diocese of Joliet includes 120 parishes and 55 schools in DuPage, Ford, Grundy, Iroquois, Kankakee, Kendall and Will counties.

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