A New Archbishop: Cooperation and Making Sense

We got a new pope this year, Leo XIV.

Now we’ve got a new archbishop for the Archdiocese of New York.

Already I’m seeing the all-too-predictable headlines.

I also noticed this excerpt from a transcript of a five-minute interview, complete with an embedded audio recording of the interview:

“New Archbishop of New York: Church must bring God’s peace, healing to world”
Devin Watkins, Vatican News (December 18, 2025)

“… ‘I grew up in the suburb right next door to Pope Leo, about 14 blocks away from each other. And like Pope Leo, I’m looking for a Church that brings God’s light to the world, His peace, His healing, His love.

“‘I’m also looking forward to ways of doing so, not in a divisive way or tearing people apart, but looking for ways of unity and finding ways to cooperate with each other.

“‘And you brought up Pope Leo: I just want to publicly say I want to cooperate with him. I want to respect his priorities and work with him to help bring those to reality, to light.

“I’m just very grateful to Pope Leo, and I want to say it’s been my joy and honor serving both Chicago and Joliet. And I’m ready, with the help of God, to make this next step into New York.'”

Sound quality isn’t the best, but it’s clear enough.

I’m sharing this because I think there’s some value in reading or hearing what someone says; not just what some expert says he said, or what he really meant when he said it.

The interviewer brought up a hot-button topic, so I’m pretty sure that some folks will be offended by what Archbishop Hicks said. Or what he didn’t say. Or how he said what he did say. Or why the pope shouldn’t have appointed someone whose name is Hicks.

I’m not going to do any of that.

I’m not going to talk about popes, being Catholic, or living in a world where some folks speak languages other than English.

Partly because I’ve already talked about this sort of thing, recently:

• “Pope Leo XIV: World Citizen, 21st Century Missionary” (September 18, 2025)
  • First Pope From the United States: it Matters, a Little
• “Corn Altar, Communist Crucifix, AI Pope Pic: Perspectives” (May 10, 2025)
  • Social Media Highbrow Hijinks??
    • Nonsense and Perspective
  • The Curious Case of the Communist Crucifix
    • Bolivia, a Superficially Cursory Overview
    • The “Communist Crucifix”, “Commie in a Cassock”: Really??
    • Recognizing Realities
    • How I See Diplomatic Gifts
  • Altar de Maiz: Corny? Yes! — Appealing? To Me, Yes!!
    • Photos: Views of the “Altar of Corn”
    • It’s Art, It’s Sculpture, and Now It’s Recycled
• “Pope Leo XIV: the 267th Bishop of Rome” (May 8, 2025)
• “Electing a Pope: Current Events, Ancient Heritage” (May 3, 2025)
  • Viewpoints and Background
  • The Catholic Church: Unchanging Basics, Changing Details