Pope Leo replaces New York's Cardinal Dolan in shake-up of US Church

VATICAN CITY, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Pope Leo replaced Cardinal Timothy Dolan as the leader of the Catholic Church in New York, the Vatican announced on Thursday, side-lining a prominent U.S. Church figure in a major shake-up of the country's Catholic leadership.

Leo, the first U.S. pope, appointed a relatively unknown cleric from Illinois, Bishop Ronald Hicks, to replace Dolan as leader of the nation's second-largest Catholic diocese, home to some 2.8 million Church members.

Dolan, Archbishop of New York since 2009 and a former president of the U.S. Catholic bishops' conference, offered to resign in February upon turning 75, as required by Church law. Cardinals often serve until 80, the mandatory retirement age.