Gerald Frederick Kicanas (born August 18, 1941) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Tucson in Arizona from 2002 to 2017. He served as the apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Las Cruces in New Mexico from September 2018 to July 2019.
After working as an associate pastor until 1978, Kicanas held various offices at the archdiocesan seminary for over 25 years. He served as rector, principal, and dean of formation at Quigley Preparatory Seminary South in Chicago, and became rector of Mundelein Seminary at the University of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, Illinois, in 1984.[2] While rector, he also served as a lecturer in community and organization development at Loyola.
Kicanas' other diocesan jobs included acting as director of the Catholic Chaplaincy Program of the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center in Chicago, as a caseworker for Catholic Charities, and as chaplain for the Chicago Parental School, a facility for troubled boys.
During his tenure as an auxiliary bishop, Kicanas served as episcopal vicar for Vicariate I in the archdiocese, which includes Lake and Cook Counties. He also became involved with vocations, the permanent diaconate, and encouragement of lay ministry.
On January 24, 2012, the archdiocese released extensive records on the handling of sexual abuse allegations. These records showed decisions made by Kicanas in two cases.
The first case was that of Daniel McCormack, a student at Mundelein Seminary when Kicanas was its administrator. According to the records, Kicanas knew about sexual abuse allegations against McCormack, but allowed his ordination anyway. In a statement, Kicanas denied knowledge of any accusations at that time.[3]
The second Chicago case involving Kicanas was that of Reverend Russ Romano. The records showed the following statement mentioning Kicanas:
"I spoke to Jerry Kicanas and he suggested a two-part approach to Russ: First, express concern for Russ and his personal problems, and second, to make it very clear that the drinking, movies, hugs, and kisses with our students must stop immediately." [3]
In a 2012 response to the Romano case, Kicanas said that he was unaware at that time of sexual abuse allegations against Romano and would have asked for a much stronger response had he known.[3]
Bishop of Tucson
Kicanas was named coadjutor bishop of Tucson on October 30, 2001 and became bishop after the resignation of Bishop Manuel Moreno on March 7, 2003.[4][1]
On November 16, 2010, Dolan defeated Kicanas in the vote for USCCB president.[10] It was the first time in USCCB history that a sitting vice president was not elected president.[11] According to an article in America: The Jesuit Review, conservative Catholic groups had mounted a strong lobbying campaign against Kicanas within the USCCB.[12] On November 17, 2010, Cardinal Francis George, outgoing USCCB president, appointed Kicanas as chair of the board of directors of Catholic Relief Services.[13]