Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston

Archdiocese of Boston Archidioecesis Bostoniensis
The 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	Archdiocese of Boston
Metropolitan	Boston, Massachusetts
Population - Catholics	1,845,758[2]
Information
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	April 8, 1808
Cathedral	Cathedral of the Holy Cross
Patron saint	Saint Patrick
Current leadership
Pope	Benedict XVI
Archbishop	Seán Patrick O'Malley, OFM Cap Archbishop of Boston
Auxiliary Bishop	John Anthony Dooher Walter James Edyvean Robert Francis Hennessey Arthur Leo Kennedy Peter John Uglietto Emilio Simeon Alluè, S.D.B. (Retired) John Patrick Boles (Retired) Francis Xavier Irwin (Retired)
Map
Website
BostonCatholic.org

Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston (Latin: Archidioecesis Bostoniensis) is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the New England region of the United States. It comprises several counties of the state 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 2009, there are 292 parishes in the archdiocese.^[3] In 2007, the archdiocese estimated that 1.8 million Catholics were in the territory, of whom about 315,000 regularly attended Mass.^[4]

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.

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.

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]

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.^[6][7][8] The offices of the Archdiocese were moved to Braintree, Massachusetts; Saint John's Seminary remains on that property.

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.

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.

List of Pastoral Regions

The Archdiocese of Boston is divided into 5 pastoral regions, each headed by an episcopal vicar.

List of bishops and archbishops

Seán Patrick Cardinal O'Malley, Archbishop of Boston

The following is a list of the diocesan bishops of Boston:

1. Bishop Jean-Louis Lefebvre de Cheverus (1808–1823) appointed Bishop of Montauban, France
2. Bishop Benedict Joseph Fenwick S.J. (1825–1846) died
3. Bishop John Bernard Fitzpatrick (1846–1866) died
4. Archbishop John Joseph Williams (1866–1907) died
5. Cardinal Archbishop William Henry O'Connell (1907–1944) died
6. Cardinal Archbishop Richard Cushing (1944–1970) retired
7. Cardinal Archbishop Humberto Sousa Medeiros (1970–1983) died
8. Cardinal Archbishop Bernard Francis Law (1984–2002) resigned, appointed Archpriest of Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore in 2004
9. Cardinal Archbishop Seán Patrick O'Malley O.F.M.Cap. (2003–present)

Seminaries

• Blessed John XXIII National Seminary
• St. John's Seminary

High schools

• Academy of Notre Dame, Tyngsboro
• Archbishop Williams High School, Braintree
• Arlington Catholic High School, Arlington
• Austin Preparatory School, Reading
• Bishop Fenwick High School, Peabody
• Boston College High School, Dorcester
• Cardinal Spellman High School, Brockton
• Cathedral High School, Boston
• Catholic Memorial High School, West Roxbury
• Central Catholic High School, Lawrence
• Elizabeth Seton Academy, Boston
• Fontbonne Academy, Milton
• Lowell Catholic High School, Lowell
• Malden Catholic High School, Malden
• Marian High School Framingham
• Matignon High School, Cambridge
• Mount Alvernia High School, Newton
• Mount Saint Joseph Academy Boston
• Nazareth Academy, Wakefield
• Newton Country Day School, Newton
• North Cambridge Catholic High School, Cambridge
• Notre Dame Academy, Hingham
• Notre Dame High School, Lawrence
• Pope John XXIII High School, Everett
• Presentation of Mary Academy, Metheun
• Sacred Heart High School, Kingston
• Saint Clement High School, Medford
• St. John's Preparatory School, Danvers
• St. Mary's High School, Lynn
• Saint Sebastian's School, Needham
• Trinity Catholic High School, Newton
• Ursuline Academy, Dedham
• Xaverian Brothers High School, Westwood

Former high schools

• Don Bosco Technical High School, Boston (closed 1998)
• Hudson Catholic High School, Hudson (closed 2009)
• Savio Preparatory High School, East Boston (closed 2007)
• Our Lady of Nazareth Academy, Wakefield (closed 2009)

External links

• Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston
• Catholic Hierarchy Profile of the Archdiocese of Boston
• Boston Globe / Spotlight / Abuse in the Catholic Church
• Boston Catholic Insider (critical blog)

References

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