Neo-Church’s Appointment in New York Exposes Apostate Priorities
The Vatican News portal (December 18, 2025) reports the resignation of “Cardinal” Timothy Dolan and the appointment of “Archbishop” Ronald Hicks as head of the “Archdiocese of New York” by the antipope Leo XIV. The article presents Hicks’ priorities as “being a pastor with a shepherd’s heart” using Bergoglio’s phrase about “the smell of the sheep,” while praising the $300 million compensation fund for abuse survivors and expressing loyalty to the antipope. No mention is made of defending Catholic doctrine, combating heresy, or restoring the sacraments. This demonstrates the terminal crisis of the conciliar sect’s structures.
Illegitimate Authority Masked as Ecclesial Governance
The article describes Hicks’ appointment as occurring through the “Holy Father” Leo XIV’s decision. This contradicts Pope Paul IV’s Bull Cum ex Apostolatus Officio (1559), which declares that any prelate “prior to his promotion or his assumption […] has defected from the Catholic Faith or fallen into some heresy” loses all jurisdiction automatically. Since the Vatican II antipopes have publicly professed heresies (religious liberty, ecumenism), their appointments are “null, void, and of no effect.” St. Robert Bellarmine states in De Romano Pontifice: “A manifest heretic cannot be Pope” (2:30). Hicks’ obedience to Leo XIV implicates him in this apostasy, rendering his “ministry” spiritually void.
“I have a great affinity for [Leo XIV] and a lot of respect. I’m really grateful to God that he is our Holy Father.”
This blasphemous affirmation echoes the conciliar sect’s fundamental error: substituting divine authority with human consensus. The Syllabus of Errors condemns as heresy the notion that “the Roman Pontiff can, and ought to, reconcile himself, and come to terms with progress, liberalism and modern civilization” (Proposition 80). By calling a manifest heretic “Holy Father,” Hicks denies the dogma of papal infallibility (Pastor Aeternus) and embraces the Antichurch’s inversion of hierarchy.
Naturalism Replaces Supernatural Mission
Hicks reduces the Church’s mission to psychosocial management: “living our faith,” “sharing love,” and “focus[ing] on what are we called to do as a Church in this world.” This echoes the modernist heresy condemned in Lamentabili Sane: “The Church is incapable of effectively defending evangelical ethics because it steadfastly adheres to its views which cannot be reconciled with modern progress” (Proposition 63). Pius XI’s Quas Primas explicitly condemns this naturalism:
“When men […] do not recognize the kingship of Christ, […] human society is tottering to its fall” (§18).
Not once does Hicks mention:
- The necessity of the Tridentine Mass
- Reparation for blasphemies
- Conversion of sinners
- Eternal judgment
His silence on these de fide truths reveals the conciliar sect’s abandonment of extra Ecclesiam nulla salus. The $300 million abuse fund – while addressing temporal consequences – ignores the theological crime: modernist clergy’s systematic destruction of sacramental life. True reparation would require restoring valid Holy Orders and denouncing the Novus Ordo as “an abomination of desolation” (St. Pius V, Quo Primum).
Bergoglian Rhetoric Conceals Doctrinal Vacuum
The article emphasizes Hicks’ desire to adopt Bergoglio’s “smell of the sheep” imagery. This phrase epitomizes the conciliar sect’s horizontalism, replacing cultus latriae (adoration due to God) with anthropocentric sentimentality. As the False Fatima Apparitions file notes: “The efficacy of Holy Mass is diminished in favor of spectacular acts.” When clergy prioritize performative “accompaniment” over teaching immutable doctrine, they fulfill St. Pius X’s warning in Pascendi Dominici Gregis:
“Modernists […] would have the clergy […] go among the people, […] adopt the popular way of speaking, […] sympathize with all suffering.” (§38)
Hicks’ pledge to avoid “divisive” language exposes his rejection of Ephesians 5:11 (“Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness”). True shepherds must divide truth from error, as St. Paul commands: “A man that is a heretic […] avoid” (Titus 3:10).
Conclusion: Apostate Structures Demand Complete Rejection
The New York appointment demonstrates the conciliar sect’s irreversible apostasy. As the Defense of Sedevacantism file proves through canon law (1917 CIC 188.4) and patristic sources, clergy who publicly defect from Catholic faith lose office automatically. The faithful must:
- Reject all sacraments administered by Hicks and other conciliar sect clergy
- Avoid any participation in Novus Ordo rituals
- Seek valid priests ordained in apostolic succession outside modernist structures
Only by returning to the integral Catholic faith professed before 1958 can the Church’s true mission – the salvation of souls through Christ the King – be restored. As Pius XI declared: “There is no salvation for souls outside the Church” (Quas Primas, §13).
Source:
New Archbishop of New York: Church must bring God’s peace, healing to world (vaticannews.va)
Date: 18.12.2025