Auxiliary Bishop Dennis Spies has been named apostolic administrator for the Diocese of Joliet, putting him in charge until the next bishop is named.

Pope Leo XIV appointed Spies on Friday as former Diocese of Joliet Bishop Ronald Hicks was appointed the new archbishop of New York and ceased being the bishop of the Diocese of Joliet.

An apostolic administrator basically serves as the top administrator of the diocese until a new bishop is named, said Peter Tamosaitis, chief operating officer for the Diocese of Joliet.

“An administrator’s primary objective is to just keep the diocese moving,” Tamosaitis said. “It’s not intended to be someone who makes any major changes.”

The process of replacing Bishop Hicks is likely to be a matter of months.

The website for the U.S. Conference of American Bishops on a page devoted to the naming of new bishops noted the process can take six months or longer.

An apostolic administrator ran the Diocese of Joliet for about nine months before Hicks was installed in September 2020.

Spies was named auxiliary bishop in the Joliet diocese in September 2024. He has served as an associate pastor at St. Mary Immaculate Parish in Plainfield from 2005 to 2008. Spies grew up in the Iroquois County community of Ashkum.