Pope Francis appoints Providence Bishop Richard Henning as archbishop of Boston

Cardinal Seán O’Malley and Archbishop-elect Richard Henning. / Credit: Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA; Diocese of Rockville Centre

CNA Staff, Aug 5, 2024 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Pope Francis has appointed Providence, Rhode Island, Bishop Richard Henning as the archbishop of Boston as longtime Archbishop Cardinal Sean O’Malley is retiring at age 80.

The Vatican said in a statement on Monday that the Holy Father had accepted O’Malley’s resignation from the archdiocese where has served for over 20 years. 

At 80, O’Malley is five years past the age at which prelates normally tender their resignation to the Holy See; the archbishop originally submitted his resignation in 2019 but stayed in the position at the pope’s request. 

A press release from the Diocese of Providence said the two prelates will concelebrate Mass in Boston on Monday morning and that O’Malley would introduce Henning at a press conference at the diocesan pastoral center at 10 a.m. 

O’Malley has served as the archbishop of Boston since 2003, appointed to the post by Pope John Paul II. Home to nearly 2 million Catholics, the archbishopric is one of the most prominent roles in the U.S. Church. 

A noted leader in confronting clerical sex abuse in the Church, O’Malley has headed the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors as its first president since 2014. He has served as a member of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and sits on the Council of Cardinal Advisers. He participated in the 2013 conclave that elected Pope Francis; at 80 he is ineligible to participate in future conclaves. 

Born on Oct. 17, 1964, in the Diocese of Rockville Centre, New York, Henning studied history at St. John’s University in Queens before studying for the priesthood at the now-closed Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington, New York. He was ordained a priest at Rockville Centre on May 30, 1992. 

Prior to becoming a bishop, Henning served a variety of posts in the New York diocese including as parish vicar of St. Peter of Alcantara in Port Washington, New York, and as an associate professor of sacred Scripture at the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception as well as the seminary’s rector. 

He also served as vicar for clergy and as vicar for parish evangelization and pastoral planning in the Rockville Centre Diocese and as the diocesan episcopal vicar of the central vicariate.

He was consecrated as auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Rockville Centre on July 24, 2018, and subsequently appointed as coadjutor bishop of the Diocese of Providence on Nov. 23, 2022. 

Upon the retirement of Providence Bishop Thomas Tobin, Henning became the ninth bishop of Providence on May 1, 2023. 

The prelate holds a licentiate in biblical theology from The Catholic University of America as well as a doctorate in that field from the University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome, Italy.