In late September 2025, a claim spread online that Pope Leo XIV planned to replace New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan — who had supposedly compared conservative activist Charlie Kirk to the Christian apostle St. Paul — with a "pro-immigrant, anti-gun" bishop named Daniel Flores.
A popular post by the Facebook page Occupy Democrats framed the alleged situation in partisan terms, comparing Dolan's supposed "far-right" views with Flores' alleged positions on gun violence and immigration policies in Texas, where Flores lives (
Occupy Democrats also shared the post on X and Instagram. Several social media users on Facebook spread similar rumors. Meanwhile, Snopes readers wrote in to the newsroom to ask if Leo "criticized" Dolan or planned to "fire" and replace him over his alleged comments about Kirk; at least one reader submitted an excerpt of text from the Occupy Democrats' post for verification.
These rumors need context. Dolan did call Kirk a "modern-day St. Paul" during a Sept. 19 appearance on Fox and Friends (see 0:58). Also, it was true that he was leaving his position as the New York archbishop. Leo is
But the implication that Leo is replacing Dolan because of his comments about Kirk is false. Dolan handed in his resignation — as is required of archbishops at age 75 under Catholic canon law — months before his comments about Kirk. Also, Leo has not publicly revealed his top candidates to succeed Dolan; it's unknown if they include Flores. Thus, we have rated this claim a mixture of truthful, false and undetermined information.
The Holy See did not return a request for more information about who Dolan's successor might be.
The rumor's origin and context
The Occupy Democrats post cited a Sept. 21 story published in "Letters from Leo," a Substack publication by Christopher Hale, who previously coordinated Catholic outreach for former President Barack Obama's 2012 campaign (archived).
"The top candidate to replace Dolan is Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville, Texas, whose profile has risen in recent years, especially for his work on the border and addressing gun violence," wrote Hale, who also once penned columns for Time Magazine on Catholicism and politics.
Hale's story focused primarily on Catholics' criticism of Dolan's comments about Kirk, who was assassinated on Sept. 10, not on Dolan's possible replacement. Furthermore, both Occupy Democrats and Hale noted accurately that Dolan sent in his mandatory resignation in February because he had turned 75 years old (see 4:43). At that time, Pope Francis led the Roman Catholic Church. (Francis died in April and cardinals in Vatican City chose Leo as his successor in May.)
Dolan is likely to remain archbishop of New York until Leo appoints a successor, and there's no set timeline for that process. On a Feb. 4 episode of Dolan's SiriusXM show "Conversation with Cardinal Dolan," he said that recently, it takes about six to eight months for archbishops to transition out of the position after submitting a resignation (see 5:53).
"It's very rare that a pope would fire a bishop. There's no circumstance where a pope would fire a bishop for an errant comment," Hale told Snopes in a phone call. "Contrary to popular belief, bishops have a lot of control over their jobs."
To Hale's knowledge, as of this writing, Leo has not publicly acknowledged Dolan's comments about Kirk. A search for any possible comments by Leo about Dolan's remarks using the Vatican's official news site (archived) and Google returned no results. Leo said on Sept. 13 that he was praying for Kirk's family and shared concerns about political violence.
Leo has not publicly indicated who he might choose as Dolan's replacement or when he will make that choice. A few Catholic pundits have suggested that Flores of Texas could be a top candidate.
Flores has generated publicity in recent years for advocating for immigrants attempting to cross the Mexico-U.S. border and has reportedly often said the United States can be a "nation of laws and still be a nation of compassion." Flores also made news in 2022, after a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, for a post on X, formerly Twitter, which said, "Don't tell me guns aren't the problem."
Hale said he is confident based on conversations with prelates in Rome, the District of Columbia and Chicago that Flores is "one of the top candidates" to replace Dolan. (Hale declined to share the names of his sources.) Hale also noted that there's "no huge right-wing push back to Daniel Flores."
"He's seen as a candidate that would make everyone happy," Hale said in the phone call.
JD Flynn, the former editor-in-chief of Catholic News Agency and a canon lawyer, also named Flores as one of several possible candidates to replace Dolan in The Pillar, a Catholic-focused publication co-founded by Flynn.
Social media posts that compared Dolan to Flores implied that their political views are at odds with one another.
However, their stances on immigration may have overlap. After Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic himself, suggested in January during an CBS News "Face the Nation" interview that U.S. Catholic
"Bible readers are advocates for the immigrant, and this nation which dares claim 'In God we trust,' must be united in seeking justice for them," Dolan wrote.
Furthermore, when a shooter killed two children at a Minneapolis Catholic school in August, Dolan condemned "mind numbing gun violence which has become all too common."
It is also worth noting that the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops — the official organization representing American bishops — has for years supported an expansion of legal immigration and various gun control measures, including a total ban on assault weapons and universal background checks.
The bottom line
Leo is replacing Dolan, but not due to his comments about Kirk. Dolan handed in his mandatory resignation to the pope months before Leo took office and Kirk was assassinated. Francis died before choosing Dolan's successor, thus leaving it to Leo.
Furthermore, it's unknown who Leo will choose to succeed Dolan, as of this writing. While Catholic pundits say Flores is a top candidate, that claim is unsubstantiated.