Pope Francis Appoints Reverends Ronald Hicks, Robert Casey and Mark Bartosic as Auxiliary Bishops of Archdiocese of Chicago; Accepts Resignation of Auxiliary Bishops George Rassas and Francis Kane
WASHINGTON— Pope Francis has appointed Reverends Ronald Hicks, Robert Casey and Mark Bartosic as auxiliary bishops of the Archdiocese of Chicago and has accepted the resignations of the Most Reverends George Rassas and Francis Kane from the Office of Auxiliary Bishops of the same archdiocese.
WASHINGTON— Pope Francis has appointed Reverends Ronald Hicks, Robert Casey and Mark Bartosic as auxiliary bishops of the Archdiocese of Chicago and has accepted the resignations of the Most Reverends George Rassas and Francis Kane from the Office of Auxiliary Bishops of the same archdiocese. Bishops Rassas and Kane have reached the retirement age for bishops of 75.
The resignations and appointments were publicized in Washington on July 3, 2018, by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.
Reverend Ronald Hicks was born in Chicago, IL, on August 4,1967. He is a priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago and is currently serving as Vicar General.
Father Hicks graduated from Quigley Seminary South in 1985 and four years later received his B.A. in philosophy from Niles College of Loyola University in Chicago in 1989. He also received his master of divinity degree in 1994 and his doctor of ministry degree in 2003, both from the University of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, IL. He was ordained a priest on May 21, 1994for the Archdiocese of Chicago.
As a priest, Father Hicks worked as associate pastor at Our Lady of Mercy Parish in Chicago from 1994 to 1996 and then at St. Elizabeth Seton Parish in Orland Hills, IL, from 1996 to 1999. From 1999-2005, he lived and ministered at St. Joseph College Seminary as the Dean of Formation.
In July 2005 with permission from Francis Cardinal George, Father Hicks moved to El Salvador to begin his five-year term as Regional Director of Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos (NPH) in Central America. NPH is a home dedicated to caring for over 3,400 orphaned and abandoned children in nine different countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
From 2010-2014, Father Hicks served as the Dean of Formation at Mundelein Seminary. During that time, he also assisted with Masses on the weekend at St. Jerome Parish in Rogers Park.
Fr. Hicks was appointed vicar general of the Archdiocese of Chicago by Cardinal Cupich on January 1, 2015. It has been his practice to celebrate Mass in a different parish in the Archdiocese each weekend.
Reverend Robert G. Casey was born in Chicago, Il, on September 23,1967. He is a priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago and currently serving as pastor of St. Bede the Venerable Church in Chicago.
Reverend Casey received his B.A. in English from Niles College of Loyola University Chicago in 1989. He received his master of divinity degree in1994 from the University of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, IL. He was ordained a priest in 1994 for the Archdiocese of Chicago.
As a priest, Father Casey was first assigned in 1994 as associate pastor to St. Ita Parish in Chicago's Edgewater neighborhood. In 1998, Cardinal George appointed Fr. Casey as the associate director of Casa Jesus while serving in his last year at St. Ita. In 1999, Fr. Casey began his work with Casa Jesus as its full-time director.
In 2003, after completing a 40-day pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, Fr. Casey began his service as pastor of Our Lady of Tepeyac in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago. In 2008, Fr. Casey co-founded Taller de José, a sponsored ministry of the Congregation of St. Joseph that offers accompaniment to people in need.
In 2009, Fr. Casey became the pastor at St. Barbara Parish in Brookfield, IL. In 2016, Fr. Casey became the pastor of St. Bede the Venerable Parish in Chicago's Scottsdale neighborhood.
Fr. Casey currently serves on the Placement Board of the Archdiocese of Chicago, assisting with the assignment process of priests to parishes. He has also been part of the Priest Steering Committee for Renew My Church.
Reverend Mark Bartosic was born in Neehah, Wisconsin, on June 21,196. He is a priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago and is currently serving as pastor of Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Chicago and director/chaplain of Kolbe House, Cook County Jail.
He was raised in Ashland, Ohio and attended St. Edward School and public schools. In 1983 he received a bachelor of arts degree in theater from Ashland University. He earned both a master of divinity degree in 1994 and a licentiate in Sacred Theology in 2001 from the University of St. Mary of the Lake.
He was ordained a priest by Cardinal Joseph Bernardin on May 21,1994 at Holy Name Cathedral. His first assignment was as associate pastor of St. Agnes of Bohemia from 1994-2000. From 2001-2016 he served as pastor of St. Frances of Rome, and from 2009-2016 as pastor of Our Lady of Charity while maintaining his responsibilities as pastor at St. Frances of Rome. Since 2016he has served as pastor of Assumption BVM and director of the Kolbe House Jail Ministry.
Bishop George Rassas was born on May 26, 1942 in Baltimore, MD. He graduated from Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary (1961) in Chicago, and then attended Niles College and the University of St. Mary of the Lake, from where he obtained a bachelor's degree in philosophy. After serving as a deacon at St. Thaddeus Church in Chicago for a year, he was ordained to the priesthood by John Cardinal Cody on May 2, 1968. He earned a master's degree in counseling psychology from Loyola University in 1974 and a doctorate in pastoral theology from St. Mary of the Lake in 1984. Rassas was pastor of the Church of St. Mary in Lake Forest from 1990 to 2004, during which time he also served as chairman of the Archdiocesan Presbyteral Council from 1999 to2002. In 2004, he became vicar general of the Archdiocese of Chicago. On December 1, 2005, Rassas was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago and Titular Bishop of Reperi by Pope Benedict XVI.
Bishop Francis Kane was born on October 30, 1942 in Chicago and was ordained to the priesthood by John Cardinal Cody at St. Mary of the Lake Seminary on May 14, 1969.
He then served as associate pastor at St. John Fisher Parish until 1975, and was also named associate director of Center for Pastoral Ministry in1973. He was associate pastor at St. Nicholas of Tolentine Parish from 1975 to1979, and director of the Office for the Ministry of Peace and Justice (1979-1985) and of the Office of Evangelization and Christian Life (1983-1993).He was director of Catholic Relief Services from 1982 to 1987. From 1993 to his appointment as auxiliary bishop in 2003, Kane served as pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Wilmette. On January 24, 2003, Kane was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago and Titular Bishop of Sault Sainte Marie by Pope John Paul II. As an auxiliary bishop, Kane also serves as Episcopal Vicar for Vicariate II, and the Cardinal's liaison for the Annual Catholic Appeal and for the Office for Lay Ecclesial Ministry.
The Archdiocese of Chicago is comprised of 1,411 square miles in the state of Illinois and has a total population of 5,943,689 of which 2,199,000 or 37 percent are Catholic.
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Keywords: U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, USCCB, Pope Francis, Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio, Bishop Ronald Hicks, Bishop Robert Casey, Bishop Mark Bartosic, Bishop George Rassas, Bishop Francis Kane, Archdiocese of Chicago.
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