Per the resignation norms revised by the late Pope Francis in 2014, Cardinal Timothy Dolan was obligated to present his letter of resignation from the pastoral governance of the Archdiocese of New York upon reaching the age of 75.Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the U.S., confirmed on Thursday that Pope Leo XIV has accepted Dolan's resignation and appointed fellow Illinoisan Bishop Ronald Hicks of the Diocese of Joliet to take over the 4,683 square-mile archdiocese that serves over 1.5 million Catholics.Cardinal Dolan — who has served as archbishop of New York since his appointment by the late Pope Benedict XVI in February 2009 — will continue to serve as the apostolic administrator until the installation of his 58-year-old replacement at Saint Patrick's Cathedral on Feb. 6, 2026.'Running the New York archdiocese is a daunting task.'Archbishop-designate Hicks, a native of Harvey, Illinois, will be the 14th bishop and 11th archbishop of the See of New York. In addition to his time as bishop of Joliet, Hicks previously served in El Salvador as the regional director of Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos, a home dedicated to caring for thousands of orphaned and abandoned children in various Latin American and Caribbean countries; dean of formation at Mundelein Seminary; vicar general of the Archdiocese of Chicago; and auxiliary bishop of Chicago.Hicks is no stranger to the pope, having spoken with him at length just last year.After Pope Leo's election, Hicks sung the Chicago native's praises and told WGN-TV, "I recognize a lot of similarities between him and me. So we grew up literally in the same radius, in the same neighborhood together."RELATED: Packed churches, skyrocketing conversions: Is New York undergoing a Catholic renaissance? Photo by Masrio Tomassetti - Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty ImagesRev. David Boettner, one of Hicks' former classmates at Mundelein Seminary, told Faith magazine in 2020, "As a seminarian and as a priest, he has always had a deep love of people and a generosity of his time to serve the needs of others.""He has always lived his promise of obedience to the Church, and his first answer when asked to serve is almost always yes," added Boettner.Rev. James Presta, a priest who worked with Hicks at Mundelein and at St. Joseph College Seminary, said, "He has been a mentor to young priests. He offers them fraternal support and sound, practical wisdom as a brother priest."Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, stressed that Cardinal Dolan will be missed."He is a very special man. He always fought for justice, and his amiable character won the applause of Catholics and non-Catholics alike. He was certainly very kind to me," Donohue said in a statement. "His fairness never stood in the way of being outspoken about contemporary issues. He was not tied to the politics of the left or the right."While tethered neither to the left nor the right, Dolan called on Catholics to "be very active, very informed, and very involved in politics"; criticized the perverse secular culture that "seems to discover new rights every day"; championed religious liberty; and defended Christian morality, especially as it pertains to marriage and the rights of the unborn."Running the New York archdiocese is a daunting task, but it is one that suits the new archbishop," noted Donohue. "Archbishop Ronald Hicks is young and vibrant and will be able to put his considerable administrative experience to good use. We look forward to working with him."Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Caroline Ellison was sentenced to two years in prison last September after facing a possible 110 years.Ellison was the CEO of Alameda Research, a crypto investment firm that was co-founded by her ex-boyfriend Sam Bankman-Fried, the centerpiece of the FTX scandal that rocked the nation.'We do not discuss the conditions of confinement for any individual.'Bankman-Fried was found to have been improperly funneling money to the hedge fund, and in Dec. 2022, Ellison pleaded guilty to related charges, including conspiracy to commit commodities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud.Now as reported by Business Insider, Ellison has been moved out of federal prison after serving just 11 months at the Danbury Federal Correctional Institute, a low-security prison in Danbury, Connecticut.Ellison was reportedly transferred out of the facility on October 16 and into community confinement, a Federal Bureau of Prisons spokesperson told BI.Spokesperson Randilee Giamusso said that Ellison remains in federal custody by way of either home confinement or through a halfway house."For privacy, safety, and security reasons, we do not discuss the conditions of confinement for any individual, including reasons for transfers or release plans, nor do we specify an individual's specific location while in community confinement," Giamusso told the outlet.RELATED: Ellison says FTX used $100M of customer deposits to bribe Chinese officials, set up accounts in names of Thai prostitutes Photographer: Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images Online records purportedly showed Ellison was set to be released in February, nine months earlier than the duration of her sentence.Despite facing 110 years in prison for seven charges, a New York judge said he gave the 31-year-old a shorter sentence due to her "very, very substantial" cooperation with the federal case against Bankman-Fried and other executives."She cooperated, and he denied the whole thing," Judge Lewis Kaplan said at the time. "I've seen a lot of cooperators in 30 years here. I've never seen one quite like Ms. Ellison."FTX allegedly took $10 billion from customer deposits, while at the same time granting Alameda Research a $65 billion credit line. This eventually resulted in an $8 billion debt taken out of customer deposits.Ellison testified with other shocking allegations; "CBS Mornings" reported at the time that Alameda allegedly used $100 million of FTX customer deposits to bribe Chinese officials.The bribes were an alleged attempt to gain access to crypto accounts that were frozen by the Chinese, worth upwards of $1 billion. In their attempts, FTX allegedly tried to regain the money by setting up accounts in the names of Thai prostitutes.RELATED: Caroline Ellison sentenced to 2 years in prison over massive FTX crypto-scandal Photographer: Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images Ellison also claimed that in order to recoup some money, Bankman-Fried considered selling shares in FTX to investors like Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.Ellison reportedly told jurors that Alameda Research would lend money to Bankman-Fried and other FTX executives so they could make political donations. Bankman-Fried donated a reported $70 million to Democrats ahead of the 2022 midterms, making him the second-highest donor behind George Soros.FTX's deep pockets allowed for big-name sponsorship deals with people like NFL legend Tom Brady and iconic television writer Larry David and even allowed for naming rights to FTX Arena in Miami.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

In Episode 427, our holiday special, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger take the classic Victorian Christmas ghost story “The Phantom Coach” by Amelia Edwards, and turn it into an audio drama. Actor Michael Legge joins us to spin this spooky holiday tale. Music by John Judd. BECOME A LEGENDARY PATRON: https://www.patreon.com/NewEnglandLegends CREDITS: Produced and hosted by: Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger Edited by: Ray Auger Guest Voice Actor: Michael Legge Theme Music by: John Judd SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST FOR FREE: Apple Podcasts/iTunes | Spotify | Pandora | Amazon Podcasts | TuneIn | iHeartRadio JOIN OUR SUPER-SECRET: New England Legends Facebook Group

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