Long Island's Catholic Church: Can New York's new Archbishop Hicks influence Bishop Barres on key issues?

The new archbishop of New York, viewed by some as a leader in the mold of Pope Francis, may push the head of the Roman Catholic Church on Long Island to be more assertive on hot-button issues such as immigration, some local Catholics said Thursday.

Bishop Ronald Hicks, who previously led the Diocese of Joliet, Illinois, won’t have any direct control over Bishop John Barres of the Diocese of Rockville Centre since all bishops report directly to the pope. But Hicks, who has been an outspoken critic of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, may influence Barres, church observers said.

"I think it will impose more pressure on him to work for social justice and obviously to be stronger in his support for immigrants," said Jim Morgo, an active parishioner at Our Lady of the Snow parish in Blue Point.

"I don't think he'll criticize Barres, but if Hicks comes out and says that what ICE is doing is against Roman Catholic teaching, that would have to pressure other clergy and particularly the hierarchy," he said.

Morgo and other Catholics, including supporters of Barres, said they believe he has generally been cautious on many issues, but the presence of an outspoken archbishop of New York — one of the most important posts in the Catholic Church in the United States — might change that.

But others don’t think so. Rick Hinshaw, a former editor of The Long Island Catholic newspaper, said he is not certain Hicks can even be classified as a "liberal" since he has adopted a range of positions, including supporting the Latin Mass favored by more traditional Catholics.

He indicated Hicks may be more in the style of Pope Leo XIV, who is thought of as a soft-spoken "unifier" in the church, while also taking a strong stand against President Donald Trump’s deportation campaign.

"I don't think you can just assume he's going to be a problem for Bishop Barres because he's in the mold of Pope Francis," Hinshaw said of Hicks. "I think that's probably oversimplified.

"I would look for them to have a very positive relationship," he said. "In some ways [Barres] too has been misportrayed as very conservative. I think he's very cautious in speaking out on things ... but I don't think he's going to be turned off by anything that the new archbishop is going to bring."

Barres said he hopes to collaborate with Hicks, while his spokesman dismissed concerns about any liberal-conservative division.

"I look forward to working with Archbishop-designate Hicks on matters of shared concern for Catholics throughout New York State and for the common good, particularly upholding and safeguarding the dignity and sanctity of every human life from conception to natural death," Barres said in a statement Thursday.

His spokesman, the Rev. Eric Fasano, said that "secular, political terms such as ‘liberal’ or ‘conservative’ do not have an objective or standard application in the Church and are often used as tools for division."

Barres was among bishops nationwide who in November signed a public statement criticizing aspects of Trump’s immigration offensive. He also played a key role in a statement put out by the Catholic bishops of New York State.

Richard Koubek, an immigrant advocate from Suffolk County who used to work on public policy for Catholic Charities, said Hicks will have an outsized influence partly because he will be based in media-heavy Manhattan and St. Patrick’s Cathedral, which many consider the heart of the Catholic Church in the United States

"I don't think [Barres will] have to take any directives from Hicks, but it’s a tone set, and I think it’s going to be very different from what we’ve had" with outgoing Cardinal Timothy Dolan, he said. "People will compare what’s happening in Manhattan to what’s happening here."

While Barres signed the bishops’ statements on immigration, he hasn’t done much more on that issue, Koubek said. He hopes Hicks' presence will change that, including on other issues including cuts to Affordable Care Act subsidies and government food assistance for poor people.

"To me right now, the most pressing moral challenge on Long Island is the roundup of immigrants in violation of basic due process and basic Catholic social teaching," Koubek said. "And the only thing that we've heard from him is: why don't you read the statement that he helped to write."