August 5, 2024
Dear Friends,
This morning the Holy Father announced that he has named the Most Reverend Richard G. Henning, S.T.D. as the tenth bishop and seventh archbishop of the Archdiocese of Boston.
Archbishop-elect Henning is currently the Bishop of the Diocese of Providence.
On behalf of the entire Archdiocese of Boston, including our priests, religious, deacons, and laity we welcome Archbishop-elect Richard Henning. We extend our deep gratitude to the Holy Father for this appointment demonstrating his ongoing pastoral care for the people of the Archdiocese. I look forward to our people and the wider community getting to know our new Archbishop-elect in the days, weeks, months and years ahead. He ministers with the heart of a pastor with a sincere commitment to serving Christ and the Church.
Archbishop-elect Henning will be installed as Archbishop of Boston on Thursday, October 31, 2024, at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston, MA. Additional details to follow.
We will hold a 10:00am introductory press conference today, Monday, August 5, 2024, at the Pastoral Center. The event will be streamed live for your convenience at https://vimeo.com/event/
The Archbishop-elect and I will also concelebrate Mass in the Bethany Chapel, in the Pastoral Center, at 9:00am this morning.
Archbishop-elect Henning has asked us to share his initial comments with you on his appointment:
“I am grateful to His Holiness Pope Francis for his confidence in me and for his conferral of this new mission as Archbishop of Boston. I receive this appointment relying upon divine Providence, aware that this is the Lord’s Church and that I am no more than an unworthy servant.
I would also like to express my gratitude to His Eminence Cardinal Sean O’Malley who has served the Church of Boston for many faithful and joyful years.
Greetings to the clergy and faithful of Boston. I ask you prayers that I may cling to the Lord’s Holy Cross, honor His mother, imitate His saints, and love you as His people and His ministers.” We adore You and praise You O Christ, for by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
Certainly, I have much left to express to you all about my gratitude for my 21 years as your shepherd. I will reserve those words for a time closer to the end of my assignment as your Archbishop. Today is a day of celebration and prayer as we welcome the Holy Father’s assignment of Archbishop-elect Henning to the Archdiocese. I ask that you pray for him as he begins to plan for this transition. In the meantime, please be assured of my continued prayers for all of you.
Sincerely Yours in Christ,
Cardinal Seán
Archbishop-elect Richard G. Henning, S.T.D.
Archbishop-elect Richard G. Henning, S.T.D. was born in Rockville Centre, New York in 1964 to Richard and Maureen Henning, the first of five siblings. He grew up in Valley Stream receiving the sacraments of Baptism, first Holy Communion, and Confirmation at Holy Name of Mary Parish, where he also attended the parish grammar school. In the summers, Archbishop-elect Henning spent a good deal of time on a small island in the Great South Bay where his family has gone for generations. There, he developed a lifelong passion for the water, sailing, boating, and kayaking on the bay.
Archbishop-elect Henning attended Chaminade High School in Mineola, New York and counts the Marianists as a major influence in his faith life and commitment to learning. He received a BA and MA in History from St. John’s University, Queens New York and received his training for the priesthood at the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington New York. He was ordained in 1992 and served for five years as an associate pastor at the Church of St. Peter of Alcantara, Port Washington. In that assignment, he did extensive pastoral work in the large parish school and ministered to the Spanish-speaking Catholics of that peninsula. In addition to fluency in English and Spanish, Archbishop-elect Henning speaks Italian and is able to read French, Greek and Hebrew.
In 1997, Bishop McGann assigned then Father Henning to post-graduate studies in Sacred Scripture. He earned a Licentiate in Biblical Theology at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. and a Doctorate in the same from the University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome, Italy.
After his studies, Archbishop-elect Henning joined the faculty of the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington, where he taught scripture for more than ten years. In 2012, as part of the partnership for seminary formation among the Dioceses of Rockville Centre, Brooklyn, and the Archdiocese of New York, then Rev. Msgr. Henning was appointed to lead the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception through its transition to the largest retreat house in the Northeast. The Ordinaries of Rockville Centre, Brooklyn and New York also charged him to establish and lead the Sacred Heart Institute for the ongoing formation of Catholic priests and deacons. Bishop Henning is also noted for his work with international priests serving in the U.S.
In 2018, Pope Francis appointed Archbishop-elect Henning as an auxiliary bishop in the Diocese of Rockville Centre, where he served as a regional Vicar and later as the Vicar for Clergy and Pastoral Planning.
In November 2022, the Holy Father appointed Archbishop-elect Henning as the Coadjutor Bishop of Providence. He succeeded Bishop Tobin as the Bishop of Providence on May 1, 2023.
On Monday, August 5, 2024, Archbishop-elect Henning was appointed the tenth bishop and seventh archbishop of the Archdiocese of Boston.
Archbishop-elect Henning has been active in the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, serving on the Doctrine Committee, the Subcommittee for the Church in Latin America, and as the Chair of the Subcommittee for the Translation of the Sacred Scriptures. He serves on several boards, including those of Providence College and the Pontifical College Josephinum.