BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe
August 4, 2024
By Christopher Huffaker and Erin Douglas
Bishop Richard Henning of Providence has been selected to succeed Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley, who helped lead the Archdiocese of Boston out of the priest sexual abuse scandal that rocked the church more than 20 years ago, according to a person with knowledge ofthe situation.
O’Malley has served more than 20 years as Boston’s archbishop, taking over in the aftermath of the scandal that led to the resignation of his predecessor, Cardinal Bernard Law. O’Malley, 80, has been in the position more than five years past the typical retirement age for bishops.
The person who spoke to the Globe requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the announcement, expected to take place Monday morning.The archdiocese has not announced details about O’Malley’s successor.
Henning, 59, has been in his current role for just over a year. The news that he is expected to be named the next archbishop of Boston was first reported by Catholic commentator Rocco Palmo in a post on the social media platform X, which described it as a “shock pick.”
O’Malley, named archbishop in 2003 and cardinal in 2006, isa close ally of Pope Francis, who asked him to remain at his post after 2019, when he submitted his required letter of resignation.
O’Malley participated in the 2013 papal conclave that elected Francis, at which he was considered a contender to be named pope, and is an original member of the influential Council of Cardinals, formed by Francis soon after his election.
Before becoming bishop of Providence, Henning served as auxiliary bishop for the Diocese of Rockville Centre, N.Y., from 2018 to 2022. He was then a coadjutor bishop alongside Bishop Thomas Tobin in Providence until Tobin’s retirement in 2023.
The Rockville Centre diocese, which covers most of Long Island, filed for bankruptcy in 2020 after hundreds of sexual abuse cases were filed against it under New York’s Child Victims Act, which allowed survivors time to file claims despite the statute of limitations. In May, the case was sent to mediation after the majority of survivors rejected a proposed $200 million settlement and the archdiocese sought to dismiss its own bankruptcy.
When he was named as coadjutant bishop of Providence, Henning told the Globe that Rockville Centre’s bankruptcy has been “a long and difficult process.” He said it was a “learning experience” that he said that he hopes to not go through ever again.
“The decision to enter into Chapter 11 was driven by the desire to first have the resources to address survivors, but also to be able to continue the mission of the church,” Henning told the Globe in a 2022 interview.
He said he has respect for Rockville Centre Diocese’s leadership for their handling of the bankruptcy.
Handling of sexual abuse was a central occupation of O’Malley’s tenure, said Massimo Faggioli, a professor at Villanova University’s department of theology and religious studies.
“He was called to clean up the mess left by Cardinal Law and also to clean up the mess created by the Vatican itself in dealing with Cardinal Law,” Faggioli said. “In the US, he was appointed to give a credible face to the fight against the abuses, and in that he has succeeded.”
The Cardinal also criticized Pope Francis on the issue when the pope was dismissive of allegations against a Chilean bishop in 2018.
But O’Malley’s efforts in the Vatican as president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors have been less successful, Faggioli said.
O’Malley has been the commission’s chief since it was created in 2014. Faggioli said that O’Malley could have asked the Vatican for more resources and personnel.
“Cardinal O’Malley wasn’t really as present in the day-by-day running of the pontifical commission, and he let the pontifical commission lose some of the credibility it could have had,” Faggioli said
In 2023, Jesuit priest and sex abuse expert Hans Zollner resigned from the commission, citing operational concerns, including in areas related to accountability and transparency. O’Malley disputed his criticisms.
Some critics think O’Malley didn’t do enough in terms of accountability, even in his own archdiocese. For example, he was criticized by some abuse victims and their advocates for omitting some names from a list of credibly accused priests in Boston, which the archdiocese released in 2011.
O’Malley said this was because some were from other religious orders. Many of the omitted priests had passed away or were unable to respond to accusations.
Before his time in Boston, O’Malley was praised for how he handled the fallout from clergy sexual abuse scandals as the bishop of Fall River and Palm Beach, Fla. In Fall River, he instituted one of the church’s first comprehensive sexual abuse policies and settled 101 claims.
O’Malley,a Capuchin Franciscan often seen in a brown habit, signifying the order’s simplicity and dedication to supporting the poor, speaks seven languages, worked among poor immigrants in Washington, D.C., and opened homeless shelters and an AIDS hospice as the new bishop in the Virgin Islands in the 1980s.
O’Malley leaves Henning with an archdiocese in much better financial shape than he received it, according to prior Globe reporting. It had a $15 million annual deficit when he took over in 2003. In 2023, it had a $13 million surplus.
Yet, the archdiocese still faces some headwinds. Weekly church attendance and Catholic school enrollment have continued to decline. Attendance fell from 316,000 in 2003 to 201,000 in 2019, before the COVID-19 crisis. Enrollment dropped from 55,000 in 2003 to 32,000 today.
Thomas H. Groome, a professor of theology and religious education at Boston College, called the decline a worldwide phenomenon in the church that can’t be attributed to any one leader.
“He’s helped us to hang in and cherish the richness of our Catholic faith even while we are embarrassed by and terribly disappointed and betrayed by the clergy sex abuse scandal,” Groome said.
In Providence, Henning was replacing a bishop, Tobin, who was known for hisoutspoken opposition to gay marriage and abortion rights. Tobin criticized Pope Francis in 2020 for his support for same-sex civil unions.
In contrast, Henning said in his 2022 interview with the Globe that his beliefs align “entirely” with the pope’s. (Pope Francis has maintained Catholic doctrine against abortion and gay marriage but has said the church should not be “obsessed” with them.”
Henning was born in Rockville Centre, N.Y., in 1964, and is the oldest of five children. His father was a firefighter and his mother was a nurse. He is fluent in Spanish and Italian.
The Reverend Laura Everett, executive director of the Massachusetts Council of Churches, said in a statement she welcomed Henning to Boston and noted that several other denominations have also recently chosen new local leaders.
“We give thanks for Cardinal O’Malley’s pastoral care and dedication over these past twenty-one years,” Everett said. “A number of new Church leaders will begin their episcopacies in the next few months, giving the whole Church a chance to rebuild and grow closer together.”
Michael Bello contributed to this report.
Christopher Huffaker can be reached at christopher.huffaker@globe.com. Follow him @huffakingit. Erin Douglas can be reached at erin.douglas@globe.com. Follow her @erinmdouglas23.