Bishop Richard Henning will succeed Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley, one of the pope’s most trusted allies, who is retiring.
Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley, shown this year, took over the archdiocese of Boston in 2003 when the sexual abuse crisis was erupting in the Catholic church.Credit…
Pope Francis announced the next leader for the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston on Monday, to succeed Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley, one of the pope’s key allies and leader of the Vatican’s office on sexual abuse.
Bishop Richard G. Henning, who currently leads the Diocese of Providence in Rhode Island, will be elevated to the high-profile position in Boston. It is one of the largest and longest-standing seats of American Catholicism, and could put him in line to become a cardinal, with voting power to elect the next pope.
Cardinal O’Malley, a Capuchin Franciscan friar known for wearing his habit as an expression of humility, turned 80 in late June, five years past the typical age of retirement for Catholic bishops. He is part of Pope Francis’s inner circle of nine cardinal advisers, and is known for speaking out not just on issues like abortion but also against gun violence; he has called repeatedly for a ban on assault weapons. He took over the archdiocese of Boston in 2003 as the sexual abuse crisis was erupting in the Catholic church, replacing Cardinal Bernard Law, who resigned following revelations that he had protected abusive priests for years.
Bishop Henning, 59, is poised to begin a similar long-term tenure. Pope Francis made him bishop in Providence just last year, a move that put him in position to take over in Boston.
The Vatican has not yet said whether Cardinal O’Malley’s responsibilities at the Vatican will change.
Cardinal O’Malley is scheduled to announce details of the transition on Monday morning at a news conference introducing the new archbishop, who will formally step into the position on Oct. 31.
