With three knocks on the door of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross just after 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 31, Archbishop Richard Henning began his journey as the tenth bishop, and seventh archbishop, of the Archdiocese of Boston, succeeding Cardinal Seán O’Malley.
As is tradition, following the knock on the cathedral doors Henning was welcomed by O’Malley, and a procession into the cathedral followed. The installation was attended by about 1,400 people, according to the archdiocese, including French Cardinal Christophe Pierre, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, five additional cardinals, five archbishops, and more than 50 bishops.
Nearly five hundred priests, religious, deacons, seminarians, and lay people were in attendance, as were members of Henning’s family. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu was among the government, interfaith, and local business leaders in attendance as well.
O’Malley opened the installation Mass with a brief greeting, before Pierre gave remarks of his own and then read aloud an English translation of the papal bull, or decree, from Pope Francis naming Henning archbishop of Boston.
Pierre thanked O’Malley for “all the ways in which you have been close to God and to God’s people” in his 40 years as a bishop, and in 21 years as the archbishop of Boston. The comments were met with a standing ovation for O’Malley.
On behalf of Pope Francis, Pierre then thanked Henning for his closeness to the faithful, and for his pledge to continue to express that closeness in his new ministry in the Archdiocese of Boston.
“I’m confident that your experiences as a pastor and leader will help you in your mission here, but even more fundamentally, what will guide you is what you have come to know from your encounter with God,” Pierre said. “It is there, in this personal encounter, that you are able to receive the good Lord’s love, kindness, understanding, mercy.”
Following Pierre’s reading of the papal bull, Henning showed it to the archdiocese’s College of Consultors, who validated the papal seal. Once accepted, Henning presented it to the entire assembly, making his way around the cathedral. He was then led back to the altar to cathedra – the seat of the archbishop – and assumed his role as the archbishop of Boston and celebrated the Mass.
In his homily, Henning spoke of communities and families where solidarity and compassion are present, and the hope that exists in them. He then, as an example, spoke specifically about the example set by victim-survivors of clergy sex abuse in the archdiocese.
“This Church of Boston, it is in a real sense a wounded Church because of the failure to act with compassion and healing. Sins against the innocent,” Henning said.
“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 victim-survivors who tell their story, for they have helped to protect new generations by their courage, and by their prophetic truth telling to us, and their living of the faith, and their capacity for compassion and solidarity, of love of neighbor,” he said.
Henning was born and raised in Rockville Centre, New York, and was ordained an auxiliary bishop of his home diocese in 2018, where he served until he became the bishop of Providence, Rhode Island, last year. His ministry as a priest began at a New York parish in the 1990s, before becoming a teacher at and ultimately head of the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington, New York.
The Mass concluded with Henning expressing gratitude from the pulpit. He thanked Pope Francis for his appointment and expressed closeness to him. He thanked all of the clergy and faithful in attendance, the religious and seminarians, as well as his family.
Henning specifically thanked O’Malley, and noted the gratitude the entire Church has for him.
“The quality of your ministry has always been a truly humble gift of yourself for the sake of others. It has been compassionate. It has been gentle, and it has been truly biblical and authentic to the faith,” Henning said.
“You, in a very real sense, have given that witness with your living and with your words and it has made all of the difference to this church. You, in a very real sense, are a foundation on which we will continue to build, so I am so very grateful to you,” he said.
The sentiment was met with another standing ovation for O’Malley.
Henning closed by again thanking everyone in attendance, saying that he was at a loss for words.
“I don’t have the words to express all of the emotions I feel this day, but I hope and pray that I will find the wisdom and the strength to give myself away completely to this beautiful church and to serve you with all of my strength for the years to come,” Henning said.
