New archbishop of Boston ‘deeply shocked’ after Pope Francis picks him to replace Cardinal O’Malley

BOSTON — Pope Francis on Monday morning named a new archbishop of Boston, replacing Cardinal Sean O’Malley, who is retiring after holding the position for more than 20 years.

O’Malley introduced 59-year-old Reverend Richard G. Henning, the current bishop of Providence, Rhode Island, as the tenth bishop and seventh archbishop of the Archdiocese of Boston, one of the most important Catholic archdioceses in the United States.

“The arrival of a new archbishop is always a time of renewal and hope,” O’Malley said at a news conference. “Pope Francis has said a priest is someone who transmits hope to restless hearts. Archbishop Henning is a joyful pastor who seeks to serve Christ.”

The Archdiocese of Boston is the fourth largest archdiocese in the U.S., serving more than 1.8 million Roman Catholics. It had operating expenses of more than $350 million in fiscal 2023, and its schools serve more than 46,000 students.

Henning said he was “deeply shocked and surprised” by being chosen for his new role.

“I am very well aware that I have a lot to learn,” Henning said. “My first job, really, is just to be listener.”

St. John Paul II had tapped O’Malley to take over in Boston in 2003 at the height of the clergy sexual abuse scandal that had exploded there following an investigation by the Boston Globe newspaper. Revelations of years of abuse and coverups by the church led to the downfall of then-archbishop Cardinal Bernard Law, who resigned in disgrace in December 2002.

At age 80, O’Malley is five years beyond the normal retirement age for bishops. His 59-year-old successor, Henning, from Rockville Centre, Long Island, has been bishop of Providence since last year.

Francis has long expressed his esteem for O’Malley and selected him as a founding member of his core cardinal advisers, known as the C9.

In that role, O’Malley advised Francis not only on child protection issues but also helped design the reform of the Vatican bureaucracy.

Born in Ohio and ordained as a priest of the Order of Friars of Minor Capuchin in 1970, O’Malley came to Massachusetts in 1992 to serve as the bishop of Fall River, a diocese that had been rocked by a sexual abuse scandal involving a priest convicted of molesting children. O’Malley was tasked with settling abuse claims.

The experience proved useful in 2003, when, after spending time as Bishop of the Diocese of Palm Beach in Florida, he was appointed by Pope John Paul II as archbishop of Boston. Once again, he took over a district shaken by sexual abuse — this time a much higher-profile crisis involving dozens of priests.

But David Clohessy, former national director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, criticized O’Malley for “a masterful job with his public relations but a terribly disappointing job with the church’s ongoing abuse and cover-up scandal.”

“He’s carefully crafted the impression of a ‘reformer while refusing to take some of the most simple and proven steps toward warning parents, parishioners, and the public about potentially threatening clerics,” Clohessy said in a statement.

Henning likely will bring more of the same, said Mitchell Garabedian, an attorney who has been representing abuse victims for decades.

“Bishop Henning does not have a track record of protecting children through either strongly speaking out against clergy sexual abuse or supporting substantive change,” he said in a statement calling Henning “a company man.”

Pope Francis names new archbishop of Boston, replacing Cardinal Sean O’Malley

“Victims believe Bishop Henning will basically ignore the ugly problem of clergy sexual abuse and hope it just goes away,” he said.

O’Malley’s relations with Francis haven’t always been easy. In 2018, he issued a blistering statement rebuking Francis after the pope dismissed claims of abuse by Chilean survivors of the country’s most notorious abuser.

O’Malley’s harsh tone was something of a wake-up call for Francis, who eventually apologized after commissioning an investigation into the Chilean scandal.

More recently, O’Malley’s commission flagged “serious problems” in the way the Vatican had handled the case of an ex-Jesuit artist, the Rev. Marko Rupnik, prompting Francis to order the case reopened.

Henning expressed gratitude to Pope Francis for the new appointment and described O’Malley as a faithful servant who “has served the Church of Boston for many faithful and joyful years” during his tenure.

“I am grateful to His Holiness Pope Francis for his confidence in me and for his conferral of this new mission as Archbishop of Boston. I receive this appointment relying upon divine Providence, aware that this is the Lord’s Church and that I am no more than an unworthy servant,” he said in a statement.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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