On 5 August the Vatican announced that Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Cardinal Sean O'Malley, one of Catholicism’s most influential leaders in the US.
It brings to an end the two decades that O'Malley has served as Archbishop of Boston, which included his having to preside over the fallout of the clerical sexual abuse scandal that impacted the Catholic Church in the US but also especially in Boston. His tenure also included the terrorist attacks of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, when two explosive devices killed three and injured hundreds of others during the Boston marathon. <br><br>Bishop Richard Henning of Providence has been named as O’Malley’s successor. Henning becomes a metropolitan archbishop, with direct authority over Boston and an indirect supervisory role over six other dioceses in Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.
The Vatican’s 5 August statement brought confirmation following rumours first reported by Rocco Palmo, a veteran Catholic writer, indicating that O’Malley, who turned 80 earlier this summer and is no longer able to vote in the next conclave, was retiring and being replaced by Henning.
A Capuchin Franciscan, O’Malley has served as the Archbishop of Boston since 2003. Prior to Boston, he served as bishop of Saint Thomas in the American Virgin Islands, then as bishop of Fall River, Massachusetts, and then as bishop of Palm Beach, Florida.
Speaking fluent Spanish, O’Malley has long had a reputation for his work with and advocacy on behalf of migrants and the impoverished, having served various immigrant communities.
He is also well known for his efforts to advance child protection. He took over in Boston from Cardinal Bernard Law, who resigned in 2002 amid the fallout of the clerical sexual abuse scandals, including allegations of coverup, that exploded in the United States after a massive expose by the <em>Boston Globe</em>, leading to the US Church adopting sweeping reform across the nation of safeguarding policies.
In 2013, O’Malley was selected as an original member the Pope’s then-newly formed Council of Cardinals, to both represent North America and advise the Pope on matters of church governance and reform. O’Malley is one of the few original members to remain in the group.
In large part because of his successful reform efforts in safeguarding, O’Malley in 2014 was appointed to lead the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors (PCPM). In that role he had to navigate several high-profile cases, including the scandals in 2018 surrounding American former cardinal and former priest Theodore McCarrick, and the ongoing case of Slovenian Father Marko Rupnik.
O’Malley recently made waves for penning a letter to the prefects and heads of Vatican departments regarding the display, including online, of artwork produced by Rupnik, a famed priest artist, asking that “pastoral prudence would prevent displaying artwork in a way that could imply either exoneration or a subtle defence” of alleged abusers “or indicate indifference to the pain and suffering of so many victims of abuse".
<strong>RELATED: <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/rupnik-artwork-must-come-down-says-top-us-cardinal-as-he-breaks-ranks-with-vatican/?swcfpc=1"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">Rupnik artwork must come down, says top US cardinal as he breaks ranks with Rome</mark></a></strong><br><br>His letter came shortly after Italian layman Paolo Ruffini, prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Communications, had caused backlash for defending his departments continued use of Rupnik’s artwork on their website, and for implying that the abuse was not as serious since it did not involve minors.
Despite stepping down as archbishop of Boston, O’Malley is expected to stay on at the commission, for the time being, at the personal request of Pope Francis.<br><br><em>Photo: Archbishop of Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley bless a child following a special 'Mass on the Border' in Nogales, Arizona, 1 April 2014 . Catholic bishops led by Cardinal O'Malley held the Mass at the U.S.-Mexico border to pray for comprehensive immigration reform and for those who have died along the border. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images.)</em>
