BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe
October 31, 2024
By Nick Stoico, Brian MacQuarrie, and Izzy Bryars
Richard Henning was named the archbishop of the Archdiocese of Boston in a South End installation ceremony at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.
He is the 10th bishop and seventh archbishop of the city, and took on the role at an event held before hundreds of religious and lay guests at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.
Henning is taking the helm from Cardinal Sean O’Malley, who is retiring after serving as archbishop of the nation’s fourth-largest archdiocese for 21 challenging years. Much of his tenure was dominated by fallout from the clergy sex-abuse crisis.
As the procession began, Henning knocked three times on the cathedral’s doors and was welcomed in by O’Malley, who embraced Henning with a hug.
The guests included Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, five additional cardinals, five archbishops, more than 50 bishops, and nearly 500 priests, religious, deacons, seminarians, and the laity.
Before Henning officially became archbishop, Pierre read an English translation of the papal bull, or decree, from Pope Francis that named him to the position. Henning then showed the bull to the archdiocese’s College of Consultors, which they inspected to ensure the papal seal was genuine. Once accepted, Henning presented the bull to the entire assembly.
At that moment, Henning, 60, was led to the “cathedra,” or seat of the archbishop, and officially assumed his role as the congregation stood in applause.
During his first remarks as Boston’s archbishop, Henning drew laughter from the congregation as he at first joked that the most common question he’s been asked is whether he is or will become a Red Sox fan (he didn’t specifically answer.)
He then spoke of his faith, which led to a reflection on the church’s years of failure to protect children who were sexually abused. He praised the courage of survivors who have come forward with their stories.
“This church of Boston, it is in a very real sense a wounded church because of the failure to act with compassion and healing,” Henning said. “Sins against the innocent. We have seen over these decades a passionate effort to protect the vulnerable, but still we feel the weight of those wounds.
“And we owe a debt of gratitude to victims, survivors, who tell their story, for they have helped to protect new generations by their courage and by their prophetic truth telling to us,” he continued. “And in their living of the faith, in their capacity for compassion and solidarity of love of neighbor, they become, for us, hope in the midst of the world, a light in the darkness.”
Henning inherits an archdiocese that is in much better condition than what O’Malley faced in 2003. At that time, the archdiocese had been badly crippled, financially and spiritually, by the clergy sexual-abuse crisis. Its finances were underwater, parishioners were outraged over looming church closures, and both Mass attendance and Catholic school enrollment were dropping.
Now, the archdiocese is in the black: parishes have been consolidated and regrouped, school enrollment appears to have stabilized, and 11 priests were ordained this year, the second-highest number since 1997.
Henning’s parents, Richard and Maureen, also attended, as well as Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and leaders from other faiths, government, business, and parishes across the archdiocese. Henning thanked Wu and the Boston Police Department for their help in the day’s events.
Near the end of the Mass, Henning thanked his family and friends who have “shaped me and guided me over the course of my life.” He acknowledged his parents, who were seated in the front row, and the congregation stood and applauded them.
“I thank you for that,” he told the audience. “They deserve it, they are the best of people.”
He also acknowledged O’Malley and his years of leadership in Boston.
“The quality of your ministry has always been a truly humble gift of yourself for the sake of others,” Henning said. “It has been compassionate, it has been gentle, and it has been truly biblical and authentic to the faith…You, in a very real sense, are a foundation on which we will continue to build.”
In his two decades as archbishop, O’Malley has been credited with opening and maintaining a dialogue with abuse victims, who have received more than $175 million in settlements since 2002, according to the archdiocese.
But the cardinal also faced criticism for his handling of the fallout from the priest sex abuse scandal, particularly in 2011 when he released the names of archdiocesan clerics who had been accused of abuse. Although 159 clerics were named, the list omitted the names of 91 others.
As the procession gathered outside the cathedral Thursday, a group of people with the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) staged a protest nearby.
Claude LeBeouf, 71, held a sign that read “Sexual Abuse of Children is spiritual murder.” LeBeouf said he was sexually abused by the late Rev. James Porter, who was convicted of molesting more than two dozen children. He said he believes Henning helped conceal sexual abuse by priests.
“Maybe he’s not an abuser, but he was complicit in covering up the abuse,” LeBeouf said.
Another demonstrator, Dr. Robert Hoatson, a former priest and sexual abuse survivor who co-founded the group Road to Recovery, said the Boston archdiocese needs to create an easier process for abuse victims to obtain compensation. He pointed to the recent news that the Archdiocese of Los Angeles has agreed to pay $880 million to victims as an example Boston should follow, but he expressed skepticism that Henning will be the change agent he is hoping for.
“Here comes another archbishop who is of the same ilk as Sean O’Malley and all the others that came before him,” Hoatson said.
In a pre-taped interview that aired during a livestream of the procession, Henning said he is committed to ensuring children are protected from abuse.
“I hope it’s encouraging when I say that is a central commitment that I’ve made in my life over many years,” he said. “We work hard to make sure that the children that are entrusted to our care are safe and nurtured and treated with the dignity that God has given to them. I certainly feel, along with the whole church, a sense of grief that there were young people that did not have that kind of protection and who suffered as a result of that.”
Henning, who most recently was bishop of Providence, had been auxiliary bishop for the Rockville Centre Diocese on Long Island, N.Y. when its bishop filed for bankruptcy four years ago. The filing prompted an ongoing legal battle with 650 abuse survivors over settlements.
The case was sent to mediation in May after most of the survivors rejected a proposed $200 million settlement and the archdiocese sought to dismiss the bankruptcy.
Henning has defended the move to file for bankruptcy.
“It was really the only decision that would have allowed the diocese to meet the obligations to survivors as well as continue the mission of the church,” he said, adding that he had only a limited role in the proceedings.
Henning was asked at his introductory news conference in August how he would reach out to Catholics who had left the church over the abuse scandal. “I will listen to their pain and their woundedness,’’ he said.
Boston attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who has represented hundreds of survivors of child sexual abuse, including those molested by priests in Boston, said many victims “feel as though the retirement of Cardinal O’Malley and installation of Archbishop Henning will create a new layer of irresponsiveness.”
“Archbishop Henning may say the right things about clergy sexual abuse but will not put into place any meaningful programs to protect children from being sexually abused or to help victims try to heal,” Garabedian said in a statement. “In other words, Archbishop Henning will even further distance the Archdiocese from the clergy sexual abuse crisis and make the crisis a forgotten thing of the past.”
Nick Stoico can be reached at nick.stoico@globe.com. Brian MacQuarrie can be reached at brian.macquarrie@globe.com. Izzy Bryars can be reached at izzy.bryars@globe.com. Follow her @izzybryars.