Boston's Cardinal O'Malley, major U.S. ally of Pope Francis, retires

[August 05, 2024]  By Joshua McElwee
 
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -Pope Francis on Monday named a new leader for the Catholic Church in Boston, succeeding the retiring archbishop, Cardinal Sean O'Malley, who has long been one of the pontiff's key U.S. advisers and a lead Vatican official on clergy sexual abuse issues. 

Boston Archbishop Cardinal Sean O'Malley delivers a blessing during Commencement ceremonies at Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, U.S., May 22, 2023. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo

In a daily press bulletin, the Vatican said Francis had appointed Bishop Richard Henning as Boston's new archbishop. Henning, aged 59 and originally from New York, had led the Church in Providence, Rhode Island, since last summer.

The Boston archdiocese said it will host a press conference later Monday to announce further details. Henning, the archdiocese said, will be formally installed into the new role on Oct. 31.

Henning is relatively new among U.S. bishops. He was first appointed as an auxiliary bishop of Rockville Centre, New York by Francis in 2018. He was made bishop of Providence, the capital of the country's smallest state, in 2023.

O'Malley turned 80, the typical retirement age for Church service, on June 29. While he was named the archbishop of Boston by Pope John Paul II in 2003 and was made a cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI in 2006, Francis had considerably elevated his public profile, and treated him as a close ally.

In his first year as pope in 2013, Francis appointed O'Malley as a member of his influential kitchen cabinet of high Church officials, known as the Council of Cardinals. In 2014, Francis also tasked O'Malley with leading the Vatican's first official commission on clergy sexual abuse.

The task force, formally known as the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, was roiled last year by the shock resignation of one of its members, a globally known abuse prevention expert.

At the time, O'Malley said he had been "surprised" by the resignation and disagreed with the person's decision.

The Vatican did not immediately say when O'Malley would step down from his Vatican roles, but, according to age limits on Church service, would be expected to do so soon.

The Boston archdiocese is the fourth-largest Catholic archdiocese in the U.S., and includes an estimated 1.8 million Catholics, according to its website.

(Reporting by Joshua McElweeEditing by Keith Weir)

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