New York Installation Ceremony Showcases Conciliar Sect’s Apostasy
The EWTN News portal (February 6, 2026) reports on the installation of Archbishop Ronald Hicks as head of the Archdiocese of New York. The ceremony at St. Patrick’s Cathedral featured theatrical elements: Hicks knocked on bronze doors opened by Cardinal Timothy Dolan, followed by applause and a multilingual Mass. Apostolic Nuncio Cardinal Christophe Pierre praised Dolan’s “joyful witness to the Gospel” and read an appointment letter from antipope Leo XIV. Hicks emphasized a “missionary Church” serving the “peripheries,” thanked interfaith leaders, and pledged to defend life “from conception to natural death.” Attendees described emotional moments, including a birthday song for Dolan and Spanish hymns.
Sacrilegious Theater Replaces Apostolic Succession
The installation’s central act—a bishop knocking on church doors—perverts the sede vacante ritual, which demands sede vacante (vacant see) procedures when a diocese lacks a bishop. By contrast, this spectacle reduced apostolic authority to a human-centered performance, complete with applause and a birthday celebration during Mass. Such irreverence exemplifies how the conciliar sect replaces supernatural faith with emotional manipulation. Pius XI condemned this inversion in Quas Primas, declaring: “When once men recognize… that Christ has been cast out of public life… human society will be at last cleft asunder” (n. 18).
False Obedience to an Antipope
Cardinal Pierre’s reading of the “Apostolic Letter” from antipope Leo XIV constitutes formal adherence to a false magisterium. The 1917 Code of Canon Law (Canon 188.4) stipulates that public defection from Catholic faith vacates ecclesiastical office ipso facto. Since the Vatican II antipopes have promulgated heresies (e.g., religious liberty in Dignitatis Humanae), their appointments lack validity. St. Robert Bellarmine clarifies: “A manifest heretic cannot be Pope” (De Romano Pontifice II.30). By accepting office from a usurper, Hicks participates in schism.
Naturalism Disguised as “Mission”
Hicks’ vision of a “missionary Church… not a country club” prioritizes social activism over the munus sanctificandi (sanctifying office). The true Church exists primarily to offer the Most Holy Sacrifice and administer sacraments for souls’ salvation (Council of Trent, Session XXIII). His call to “feed the hungry” and “heal the ill” omits grace, reducing the Church to an NGO. Pius XI warned against this in Quas Primas: “When once men recognize… that the Church… may be safely despised… human society will be at last cleft asunder” (n. 1).
Ecumenical Betrayal of Christ’s Kingship
Hicks’ gratitude toward “members of different faith traditions” confirms the conciliar sect’s apostasy. The Syllabus of Errors condemns the idea that “the Roman Pontiff can, and ought to, reconcile himself… with progress, liberalism, and modern civilization” (Proposition 80). True shepherds echo St. Pius X: “The Church alone… possesses in its entirety the truth” (Vehementer Nos). By courting interfaith dialogue, Hicks denies Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus—a dogma infallibly defined at the Council of Florence (1442).
Sacrilegious Liturgical Abuse
The Mass incorporated bilingual readings, Spanish hymns, and birthday festivities—all violations of liturgical integrity. Pius XII’s Mediator Dei (n. 64) forbids innovations that “turn the altar into a stage.” Traditional rites prohibit vernacular languages to safeguard lex orandi, lex credendi (law of prayer is law of belief). The standing ovation for Dolan epitomizes the cult of personality condemned by St. Pius X: “Modernists… foster in the Church an inferior form of democracy” (Pascendi n. 25).
Conclusion: A Sect in Open Revolt
This installation exemplifies the conciliar sect’s complete rupture with Catholic Tradition. From false obedience to liturgical clownery, every act rejects the Church’s divine constitution. As St. Pius X decreed in Lamentabili (Proposition 22): “The dogmas the Church proposes are not truths fallen from heaven, but interpretations of religious facts.” Faithful Catholics must recognize these structures as schismatic and flee them (2 John 1:10-11). Only the unchanging Mass and doctrines preserved by true bishops offer salvation.
Source:
Archbishop Ronald Hicks takes helm of Archdiocese of New York (ewtnnews.com)
Date: 07.02.2026