NEW YORK (WABC) — Timothy Cardinal Dolan held his final Christmas Eve midnight mass on Wednesday at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City.
This comes after Pope Leo XIV appointed Bishop Ronald Hicks of the Diocese of Joliet, Illinois, as the next Archbishop of New York following Dolan’s retirement.
Mayor Eric Adams attended the Christmas Eve midnight mass.
Tickets for the mass were distributed through a lottery.
The line wrapped around Fifth Avenue as crowds waited outside in the cold. There were so many people that some were turned away, but they gravitated towards the light emanating from St. Patrick’s Cathedral, looking for something greater to believe in.
“Just to see the love and divinity in church, and just everyone gathering together for Christmas. Just means a lot,” said a church-goer named Charlie.
The other masses at St. Patrick’s on Wednesday were open to the public, including the church’s regular mass schedule and Christmas Eve family mass.
Last week, the big announcement was made that Bishop Hicks was going to be the new Archbishop of New York
Cardinal Dolan turned 75 earlier this year, the Catholic Church’s mandatory retirement age.
He submitted his retirement request to the Vatican after serving New York for the last 16 years.
“We always loved him,” said church-goer Stela Caprio. “We loved him being part of this church, but I think it’s going to be good. I guess in a way because it’s a new way of running it, new way of thinking – I guess new results are good. It’s not always bad.”
Dolan has publicly said he would like to stay in New York to continue serving the Catholic Church: “I even got a request to write a book. I even got an offer to do a documentary on the status of the Church in the United States. So things come in, you know … I’m going to kind of appreciate the chance to set my own schedule.”
Cardinal Dolan called the appointment of his successor “an early Christmas gift.”
Archbishop-designate Ronald Hicks will celebrate his last midnight mass for the Diocese of Joliet in Illinois as he prepares to lead the 2.8 million Catholics who make up the Archdiocese of New York.
Hicks will become the 14th bishop and 11th archbishop of the See of New York, with his official installation slated for February.
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