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Archdiocese of Boston Archidioecesis Bostoniensis
Coat of arms of the Archdiocese of Boston
Location
Country	United States
Territory	Counties of Essex, Middlesex, Suffolk, Norfolk, and Plymouth (the towns of Mattapoisett, Marion, and Wareham excepted)[1]
Ecclesiastical province	Boston
Statistics
Area	2,465 sq mi (6,380 km2)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2015) 4,147,275 1,949,219 (47%)
Parishes	288
Information
Denomination	Catholic
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	April 8, 1808
Cathedral	Cathedral of the Holy Cross
Patron saint	Saint Patrick
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Metropolitan Archbishop	Seán Patrick O'Malley
Auxiliary Bishops	Robert Francis Hennessey Mark William O'Connell Robert Philip Reed Peter J. Uglietto
Vicar General	Peter J. Uglietto
Emeritus Bishops	Emilio S. Allué John Anthony Dooher Francis Xavier Irwin Walter James Edyvean Arthur Kennedy
Map
Website
www.bostoncatholic.org

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston (Latin: Archidioecesis Bostoniensis) is an ecclesiastical territory or Archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the New England region of the United States. It comprises several counties of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is led by a prelate archbishop who serves as pastor of the mother church, Cathedral of the Holy Cross in the South End of Boston.

As of 2017, there are 288 parishes in the archdiocese.^[2] In 2007, the archdiocese estimated that more than 1.8 million Catholics were in the territory, of whom about 315,000 regularly attended Mass.^[3]

History

Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston

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, (future) Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.

In the nineteenth century, as Catholicism grew exponentially in New England, the Diocese of Boston was carved into smaller new dioceses: on November 28, 1843, Pope Gregory XVI erected the Diocese of Hartford; Pope Pius IX erected the Diocese of Burlington and the Diocese of Portland on July 29, 1853, the Diocese of Springfield on June 14, 1870, and the Diocese of Providence on February 16, 1872. On February 12, 1875, Pope Pius IX elevated the diocese to the rank of an archdiocese.

In the 1920s, Cardinal William O'Connell moved the chancery from offices near Holy Cross Cathedral in the South End to 127 Lake Street in Brighton.^[4] "Lake Street" became shorthand for the Bishop and the office of the Archdiocese.^[4]

Clergy sexual abuse settlements

At the beginning of the 21st century the archdiocese was shaken by accusations of sexual abuse by clergy that culminated in the resignation of its archbishop, Cardinal Bernard Francis Law, on December 13, 2002. In September 2003, the archdiocese settled over 500 abuse-related claims for $85 million.^[5] Victims received an average of $92,000 each and the perpetrators included 140 priests and two others.^[6]

In June 2004, the archbishop's residence and the chancery in Brighton and surrounding lands were sold to Boston College, in part to defray costs associated with abuse cases.^[7][8][9] The offices of the Archdiocese were moved to Braintree, Massachusetts. The diocesan seminary, Saint John's Seminary, remains on the property in Brighton.

Communications media

The diocesan newspaper The Pilot has been published in Boston since 1829.

The Archdiocese's Catholic Television Center, founded in 1955, produces programs and operates the cable television network CatholicTV. From 1964 to 1966, it owned and operated a broadcast television station under the call letters WIHS-TV.

Ecclesiastical province

Ecclesiastical Province of Boston

The Archdiocese of Boston is also metropolitan see for the Ecclesiastical province of Boston. This means that the archbishop of Boston is the metropolitan for the province. The suffragan dioceses in the province are the Diocese of Burlington, Diocese of Fall River, Diocese of Manchester, Diocese of Portland, Diocese of Springfield in Massachusetts, and the Diocese of Worcester.

Pastoral regions

The Archdiocese of Boston is divided into five pastoral regions, each headed by an episcopal vicar.

Bishops

Cardinal Seán O'Malley, OFM Cap, Archbishop of Boston

The following are lists of the Bishops and Archbishops of Boston, Auxiliaries of Boston, and their years of service. Also included are other priests of this diocese who served elsewhere as bishop.

Bishops of Boston

1. 
   Jean-Louis Lefebvre de Cheverus (1808–1823) appointed Bishop of Montauban and later Archbishop of Bordeaux (elevated to Cardinal in 1836)


2. 
   Benedict Joseph Fenwick, S.J. (1825–1846)


3. 
   John Bernard Fitzpatrick (1846–1866)

Archbishops of Boston

1. 
   John Joseph Williams (1866–1907); Archbishop from 1875


2. Cardinal William Henry O'Connell (1907–1944)


3. Cardinal Richard James Cushing (1944–1970)


4. Cardinal Humberto Sousa Medeiros (1970–1983)


5. Cardinal Bernard Francis Law (1984–2002), appointed Archpriest of the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore
   


6. Cardinal Seán Patrick O'Malley, O.F.M.Cap. (2003–present)

Auxiliary bishops

• 
  John Brady (1891-1910)


• 
  Joseph Gaudentius Anderson (1909-1927)


• 
  John Bertram Peterson (1927-1932), appointed Bishop of Manchester
  


• 
  Francis Spellman (1932-1939), appointed Archbishop of New York (elevated to Cardinal in 1946)


• Richard J. Cushing (1939-1944), appointed Archbishop of Boston


• 
  Louis Francis Kelleher (1945-1946)


• 
  John Wright (1947-1950), appointed Bishop of Pittsburgh and later Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy (elevated to Cardinal in 1969)


• 
  Thomas Francis Markham (1950-1952)


• 
  Eric Francis MacKenzie (1950-1969)


• 
  Jeremiah Francis Minihan (1954-1973)


• 
  Thomas Joseph Riley (1959-1976)


• 
  Daniel A. Cronin (1968-1970), appointed Bishop of Fall River and later Archbishop of Hartford
  


• 
  Lawrence Joseph Riley (1971-1990)


• 
  Joseph Francis Maguire (1971-1976), appointed Coadjutor Bishop and later Bishop of Springfield in Massachusetts
  


• 
  Joseph John Ruocco (1974-1980)


• 
  John Joseph Mulcahy (1974-1992)


• 
  Thomas Vose Daily (1974-1984), appointed Bishop of Palm Beach and later Bishop of Brooklyn
  


• 
  John Michael D'Arcy (1975–1985), appointed Bishop of Fort Wayne-South Bend
  


• 
  Daniel Anthony Hart (1976-1995), appointed Bishop of Norwich
  


• 
  Alfred C. Hughes (1981-1993), appointed Bishop of Baton Rouge and later Archbishop of New Orleans
  


• 
  Robert J. Banks (1985-1990), appointed Bishop of Green Bay
  


• 
  Roberto Octavio González Nieves, O.F.M. (1988-1995), appointed Coadjutor Bishop and Bishop of Corpus Christi and later Archbishop of San Juan in Puerto Rico
  


• 
  John R. McNamara (1992-1999)


• 
  John P. Boles (1992-2006)


• 
  John Brendan McCormack (1995-1998), appointed Bishop of Manchester
  


• 
  William F. Murphy (1995-2001), appointed Bishop of Rockville Centre
  


• 
  Emilio S. Allué, S.D.B. (1996-2010)


• 
  Francis Xavier Irwin (1996-2009)


• 
  Richard Joseph Malone (2000-2004), appointed Bishop of Portland and later Bishop of Buffalo
  


• 
  Richard Lennon (2001-2006), appointed Bishop of Cleveland
  


• 
  Walter James Edyvean (2001-2014)


• 
  Robert Francis Hennessey (2006–present)


• 
  John Anthony Dooher (2006–2018)


• 
  Peter John Uglietto (2010–present)


• 
  Arthur L. Kennedy (2010-2017)


• 
  Robert P. Deeley (2012-2013), appointed Bishop of Portland
  


• 
  Mark William O'Connell (2016–present)


• 
  Robert P. Reed (2016–present)

Other bishops who once were priests in the diocese

• 
  William Barber Tyler, appointed Bishop of Hartford in 1843


• 
  James Augustine Healy, appointed Bishop of Portland in 1875


• 
  Lawrence Stephen McMahon, appointed Bishop of Hartford in 1879


• 
  Matthew Harkins, appointed Bishop of Providence in 1887


• 
  Edward Patrick Allen, appointed Bishop of Mobile in 1897


• 
  Louis Sebastian Walsh, appointed Bishop of Portland in 1906


• 
  John Joseph Nilan, appointed Bishop of Hartford in 1910


• 
  James Anthony Walsh, elected Superior General of Maryknoll and consecrated Titular Bishop in 1933


• 
  Edward Francis Ryan, appointed Bishop of Burlington in 1944


• 
  John Joseph Glynn, appointed Auxiliary Bishop for the Military Services, USA in 1992


• 
  Christopher J. Coyne, appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Indianapolis in 2011 and later Bishop of Burlington
  


• 
  Paul Fitzpatrick Russell,^[11] appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Turkey and Turkmenistan and consecrated Titular Archbishop in 2016

Seminaries

• 
  Pope St. John XXIII National Seminary, Weston


• 
  St. John's Seminary, Brighton


• Redemptoris Mater Archdiocesan Missionary Seminary

Education

As of 2016, the diocese has 116 schools with about 38,000 students in pre-kindergarten through high school.^[12]

In 1993 the archdiocese had 53,569 students in 195 archdiocesean parochial schools. Boston had the largest number of parochial schools: 48 schools with a combined total of about 16,000 students.^[13]

Superintendents

• Msgr. Albert W. Low (1961–1972)^[14]
  


• Br. Bartholomew Varden, CFX (1972–1975)^[14][15]
  


• Eugene F. Sullivan (1978–1984)^[16][17]
  


• Sr. Kathleen Carr, CSJ (1990–2006)^[18]
  


• Mary Grassa O'Neill (2008–2014)^[19]
  


• Mary E. Moran (2013–2014)^[19]
  


• Kathleen Powers Mears (2014–present)^[19]
  

Colleges and universities

• 
  Boston College, Chestnut Hill


• Emmanuel College, Boston


• 
  Marian Court College, Swampscott


• 
  Merrimack College, North Andover


• 
  Regis College, Weston

High schools

Former high schools

See also

References

External links

• Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Official Site


• Catholic Hierarchy Profile of the Archdiocese of Boston


• 
  Boston Globe / Spotlight / Abuse in the Catholic Church


• Boston Catholic Insider (critical blog)


• Boston Catholic Schools

Coordinates: 42°12′47″N 71°02′29″W / 42.21306°N 71.04139°W / 42.21306; -71.04139