Pope accepts resignation of Cardinal O'Malley, appoints new Archbishop of Boston

Vatican News

After more than two decades, Cardinal Seán Patrick O'Malley has concluded his leadership of the Archdiocese of Boston, the fourth largest in the United States. On 5 August Pope Francis accepted the resignation from pastoral leadership of the Capuchin Cardinal, who turned 80 last June.

The Pope appointed Bishop Richard G. Henning, until now heading the US Diocese of Providence, as Cardinal O'Malley's successor.

Archbishop of Boston since 2003

After having served in Florida, the US Virgin Islands, and Fall River since 1992, John Paul II appointed him on 1 July 2003 Metropolitan Archbishop of Boston, an archdiocese at the centre a few years earlier of the "Spotlight Investigation" on clergy child abuse cases. The fight against this scourge has been and still is a major commitment of Cardinal O'Malley, who since 2014 has served as President of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors and also a member of the Council of Cardinals (C9).

The new archbishop

In his place Pope Francis appointed Bishop Richard G. Henning, 59, originally from Rockville Centre where he was ordained a priest in 1992. He has covered various posts in recent years: parochial vicar of Saint Peter of Alcantara, Port Washington (1992-1997); Associate professor of Sacred Scripture, then professor and formator at the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception, Huntington (2002-2012); Rector of the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception and Director of the Sacred Heart Institute for Ongoing Formation of the Clergy (2012-2018); Episcopal Vicar of the Central Vicariate (2017); Vicar for Parish Evangelization and Pastoral Planning (2018); Vicar for Clergy (2021).

After receiving a Baccalaureate and a Master of Arts in History from Saint John's University, Queens (New York) and ecclesiastical studies at the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington, Archbishop-elect Henning obtained a Licentiate in Biblical Theology from the Catholic University of America, Washington, in 2000 and a Doctorate in Biblical Theology from St. Thomas Aquinas University in Rome in 2007. 

Appointed Titular Bishop of Tabla and Auxiliary of Rockville Centre on 8 June 2018, he received episcopal ordination the following 24 July. He was appointed Bishop Coadjutor of Providence on 23 November 2022 and began leadership of the Diocese on 1 May 2023.

Archbishop-elect Henning will be installed as Archbishop of Boston on 31 October 2024 at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston.