Pope Leo XIV appointed Bishop Brendan Cahill as the new bishop of Joliet, Illinois, the apostolic nuncio to the United States announced on Thursday, September 17.

Bishop Cahill’s appointment fills the vacancy created when Archbishop Ronald Hicks was appointed archbishop of New York in December 2025.

Born in Florida and raised mostly in Texas, Bishop Cahill was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston on May 19, 1990, according to his biography on the Diocese of Joliet’s website. He then spent time in Rome and received a doctorate in fundamental theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in 1999.

After returning to the United States, Bishop Cahill was first the formation director of St Mary Seminary in Houston from 1998 until 2001, and then its rector from 2001 to 2010.

From 2010 to 2015, Bishop Cahill served as the archdiocese’s director of the Secretariat for Clergy Formation and Chaplaincy Services and vicar for clergy of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston.

In 2015 he was named the third bishop of the Diocese of Victoria in Texas and was consecrated a bishop on June 29, 2015, by Cardinal Daniel DiNardo.

Bishop Cahill currently serves as chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration. He also serves as chairman of the Subcommittee for Pastoral Care of Migrants, Refugees and Travelers.

The Diocese of Joliet is located in northeastern Illinois and is directly south of the Archdiocese of Chicago. The diocese has about 620,000 Catholics.

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