Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the New England region of the United States. It is comprised of several counties of the state of Massachusetts. It is led by a prelate archbishop which serves as pastor of the mother church, Cathedral of the Holy Cross in the City of Boston.
History
The original Diocese of Boston was canonically erected on April 8, 1808 by Pope Pius VII. It took its territories from the larger historic Diocese of Baltimore and consisted of the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. Throughout the history of the United States and exponential growth of Catholicism in New England, the Diocese of Boston was carved into smaller new dioceses. On February 12, 1875, Pope Pius IX elevated the diocese to become an archdiocese.
Sex abuse scandal
The archdiocese was the center of the Roman Catholic Church sex abuse scandal that culminated in the resignation of its archbishop, Cardinal Bernard Francis Law, on December 13, 2002. The Archdiocese settled with most claims for $86 million. In June of 2004, much of the land around the archdiocese of Boston headquarters was sold to Boston College, in part to raise money for legal costs accociated with scandal in Boston. [1], [2].
Cardinal
For a number of years the Archbishop of Boston was traditionally named a Cardinal. Pope John Paul II also denied the archdiocese of a new prelate cardinal while Cardinal Law was still in active service in the Roman Curia. That changed on February 22, 2006 when Pope Benedict XVI announced that current Archbishop Sean O'Malley will be among 15 bishops that will be appointed as cardinals. Cardinal O'Malley and the others were formally installed in a ceremony in Rome on March 24, 2006.
List of bishops and archbishops
The following is a list of all bishops and archbishops of Boston, and their term of service:
- Bishop John Cheverus, fr.Jean-Louis Anne Madelain Cardinal Lefebvre de Cheverus (1808-1823)
- Bishop Benedict Joseph Fenwick, S.J. (1825-1846)
- Bishop John Bernard Fitzpatrick (1846-1866)
- Archbishop John Joseph Williams (1866-1907)
- Archbishop William Henry Cardinal O'Connell (1907-1944)
- Archbishop Richard Cardinal Cushing (1944-1970)
- Archbishop Humberto Sousa Cardinal Medeiros (1970-1983)
- Archbishop Bernard Francis Law (1984-2002)
- Archbishop Sean O'Malley, O.F.M. Cap. (2003- )
Resources
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