Archdiocese of Boston

{{short description|Latin Catholic jurisdiction in the US}} {{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Infobox diocese | jurisdiction = Archdiocese | name = Boston | latin = Archidiœcesis Bostoniensis | local =

| image = CCHolyCross.JPG | image_size = 225px | image_alt = | caption = Cathedral of the Holy Cross, Boston, 2007 | coat = Coat of arms of the Archdiocese of Boston.svg | coat_size = 150px | coat_alt =  | country = {{flag|United States}} | territory = Essex County, Middlesex County, Norfolk County, Suffolk County, and also Plymouth County except the towns of Marion, Mattapoisett, and Wareham<ref name="catholic-hierarchy.org"/> | province = Boston | deaneries = | headquarters = | coordinates = {{Coord|42|12|47|N|71|02|29|W|type:city_source:kolossus-plwiki|display=title,inline}}  | area_km2 = 6,386 | area_footnotes = <ref name=GC/> | population = 4,420,879 | population_as_of = 2021<ref name=GC>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://gcatholic.org/dioceses/diocese/bost0.htm |title=Metropolitan Archdiocese of Boston |encyclopedia=GCatholic |publisher=Gabriel Chow |date=March 4, 2024 |access-date=24 March 2024}}</ref> | catholics = 1,989,396 | catholics_percent = {{percentage|1,989,396|4,420,879|1|%=}} | parishes = 266<ref name=GC/> | churches =  | congregations =  | schools =  | members =   | denomination = Catholic Church | sui_iuris_church = Latin Church | rite = Roman Rite | established = {{start date and age|1808|04|08}} | cathedral = Cathedral of the Holy Cross | cocathedral = | patron = Saint Patrick | priests = 952 (600 diocesan; 352 religious)<ref name=GC/>  | pope = {{Incumbent pope}}  | bishop = Richard Garth Henning | bishop_title = Metropolitan Archbishop | coadjutor = | suffragans = | auxiliary_bishops = {{unbulleted list|Robert Francis Hennessey|Robert P. Reed|Peter J. Uglietto|Cristiano Borro Barbosa }} | apostolic_admin = | vicar_general = | episcopal_vicar = | judicial_vicar = | emeritus_bishops = {{unbulleted list|Seán Patrick O'Malley|John Anthony Dooher|Arthur Kennedy}}  | map = Archdiocese of Boston map 1.jpg | map_size = | map_alt = | map_caption =  | website = {{URL|bostoncatholic.org}} | footnotes = }}

The '''Archdiocese of Boston''' ({{langx|la|Archidiœcesis Bostoniensis}}) is an archdiocese of the Catholic Church in eastern Massachusetts in the United States. Its mother church is the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston.

The Diocese of Boston was erected in 1808, branching off from the Diocese of Baltimore. It grew rapidly during the 19th century; today it is the fourth largest archdiocese in the United States. Starting in 2002, the archdiocese faced a sexual abuse scandal which touched off investigations of Catholic Church sexual abuse cases throughout the United States. Richard G. Henning is the archbishop.

== Territory == The Archdiocese of Boston encompasses Essex County, Middlesex County, Norfolk County, and Suffolk County in Massachusetts. It includes most of Plymouth County except for the towns of Marion, Mattapoisett, and Wareham.

==History== ===Early history=== During the 17th century, the Massachusetts colonies enacted legal restrictions on Catholics, Anglicans, Quakers, and other non-Puritan Protestants. They also enacted specific bans on Catholic worship. By 1700, the British Province of Massachusetts Bay had made it a crime, with a potential life sentence, for a Catholic priest to reside in the colony.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Lally |first=Robert Johnson |title=Freedom of Religion Comes to Boston |url=https://www.bostoncatholic.org/freedom-of-religion-comes-to-boston |access-date=October 26, 2023 |website=Archdiocese of Boston}}</ref>

With the start of the American Revolutionary War in 1776, attitudes towards Catholics shifted in the American colonies. The rebel leaders needed to gain the support of Catholics for their cause. In addition, the alliance with Catholic France fostered a more favorable attitude among Americans towards Catholicism. The Constitution of the new Commonwealth of Massachusetts, written by future US President John Adams and ratified in 1780, established religious freedom for Catholics in the new state.<ref name=":3" /> With the Massachusetts constitution being the first state constitution in the United States, its framework of government became a model for the constitutions of other states and, eventually, for the federal constitution.

In 1788, the Abbé de la Poterie, a former French naval chaplain, celebrated the city's first public mass in a converted Huguenot chapel at 24 School Street in Boston. It became Holy Cross Church, the first Catholic church in the Commonwealth. By 1800, two refugee priests from the French Revolution, Francis Anthony Matignon and John Cheverus, were ministering to the few Catholics in the region. They raised the funds to build a larger building, the Church of the Holy Cross (since demolished).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lally |first=Robert Johnson |title=Building the Church in Boston |url=https://www.bostoncatholic.org/building-the-church-in-boston |access-date=October 26, 2023 |website=Archdiocese of Boston}}</ref> With the erection of the Diocese of Baltimore in 1789, Catholics in Massachusetts now came under American Catholic jurisdiction.

===Formation=== [[File:Gilbert Stuart - Bishop Jean-Louis Anne Magdelaine Lefebvre de Cheverus - 21.9 - Museum of Fine Arts.jpg|thumb|347x347px|''Portrait of Jean-Louis Lefebvre de Cheverus'' by Gilbert Stuart (1823)]] thumb|Bishop Fenwick (1846)|323x323px Pope Pius VII erected the Diocese of Boston on April 8, 1808, taking all of New England from the Diocese of Baltimore. The new diocese consisted of the states of Connecticut, Massachusetts (which included present-day Maine), New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Baltimore (Archdiocese) |url=http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dbalt.html |encyclopedia=Catholic-Hierarchy.org |publisher=David M. Cheney |date=February 13, 2024 |accessdate=September 25, 2023}}</ref> The pope named Cheverus as the first bishop of Boston.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Jean-Louis Anne Madelain Cardinal Lefebvre de Cheverus |url=https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bcheverus.html |encyclopedia=Catholic-Hierarchy.org |publisher=David M. Cheney |date=February 25, 2024 |accessdate=March 24, 2024}}</ref>

Cheverus supported the establishment in 1816 of the Provident Institution for Savings in Boston, the first chartered savings bank in the United States He believed the bank would help his parishioners establish good financial practices.<ref>{{cite web |title=Boston College: John J. Burns Library |url=http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/ulib/Burns/bankbusms.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517085000/http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/ulib/Burns/bankbusms.html |archive-date=17 May 2008 |access-date=2010-05-09 |df=dmy-all}} Retrieved 03-23-2010. [https://newspapers.bc.edu/?a=d&d=BOSTONSH19120203-01.2.15 ''The Sacred Heart Review''], Volume 47, Number 7, 3 February 1912, pp. 3-5.</ref> In 1820, Cheverus oversaw the opening of an Ursuline convent in the rectory of Holy Cross Cathedral with a girls school for poor children.'''<ref>Schultz, Nancy Lusignan (2000). ''Fire and Roses: The Burning of the Charlestown Convent. New York'': The Free Press. {{ISBN|1-55553-514-3}}</ref>''' He was appointed in 1823 as bishop of Montauban in France.<ref name=":12">{{Cite web |title=Jean-Louis Anne Madelain Cardinal Lefebvre de Cheverus [Catholic-Hierarchy] |url=https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bcheverus.html |access-date=2023-12-27 |website=www.catholic-hierarchy.org}}</ref>

Monsignor Benedict Fenwick was appointed the second bishop of Boston by Pope Leo XII on May 10, 1825. Though the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the diocese encompassed all of New England, Fenwick had only two priests under his charge, who served three Catholic churches, besides the cathedral, in all of New England: Saint Augustine's Chapel in Boston, St. Patrick's Church in Newcastle, Maine, and a small church in Claremont, New Hampshire.<ref name="clarke394">{{harvnb|Clarke|1872|p=394}}</ref> Throughout New England, there were approximately 10,000 Catholics.<ref name="lord175">{{harvnb|Lord|1936|p=175}}</ref>

Due to significant Irish immigration, the Catholic population in the diocese grew to at least 30,000 by 1833.<ref name="lord1792">{{harvnb|Lord|1936|p=179}}</ref> Fenwick traveled throughout the large territory to manage the diocese and administer the sacrament of confirmation.<ref name="clarke397-398">{{harvnb|Clarke|1872|pp=397–398}}</ref> This included visiting Penobscot and Passamaquoddy tribes in Maine,<ref name="clarke403">{{harvnb|Clarke|1872|p=403}}</ref> who were largely Catholic,<ref name="clarke398">{{harvnb|Clarke|1872|p=398}}</ref> and were the subject of intensive proselytism by Protestant evangelists. Fenwick ordered the construction of St. Anne's Church in Old Town, Maine, for them in 1828,<ref name="oconnor47-48">{{harvnb|O'Connor|1998|pp=47–48}}</ref> and sought to improve their schools.<ref name="clarke403" />

Fenwick addressed a shortage of priests in his diocese by sending prospective seminarians to Maryland and Canada to be educated, and by incardinating several priests from other dioceses.<ref name="lord1792"/> He also trained several students in a makeshift seminary at his episcopal residence.<ref name="oconnor45">{{harvnb|O'Connor|1998|p=45}}</ref> As a result, the number of priests in the diocese had increased to 24 by 1833.<ref name="lord1792" /> At the same time, many new parishes were founded throughout New England.<ref name="lord179-180">{{harvnb|Lord|1936|pp=179–180}}</ref>

On August 10, 1834, posters were displayed in Charleston that declared an ultimatum: unless the Ursuline Convent and Academy of Mount Benedict were investigated by the board of selectmen of Charlestown, it would be "demolished" by the "Truckmen of Boston." The following day, authorities were sent to inspect the convent. As they left, a mob of 2,000, wearing masks or painted faces, encircled the convent. They threw bricks through the windows, stole precious objects from the interior, and then lit it ablaze; the nuns fled. The fire department arrived, but did not attempt to extinguish the fire.<ref name="tager113">{{harvnb|Tager|2001|p=113}}</ref><ref name="tager117">{{harvnb|Tager|2001|p=117}}</ref>

By the end of Fenwick's episcopate, the number of Catholics in the Diocese of Boston (after the removal of the Diocese of Hartford) had increased to 70,000, in addition to 37 priests, and 44 churches.<ref name="lord182">{{harvnb|Lord|1936|p=182}}</ref> Fenwick died in 1846. {| class="wikitable" |+ ! colspan="3" |Dioceses created out of the Diocese and Archdiocese of Boston |- ! scope="col" | Date of diocese ! scope="col" | Diocese name ! scope="col" | Territory taken from Diocese and Archdiocese of Boston |- |1843 |Diocese of Hartford |Connecticut, Rhode Island and counties in southeastern Massachusetts<ref name="catholic-hierarchy.org">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Boston (Archdiocese) |url=http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dbost.html |encyclopedia=Catholic-Hierarchy.org |publisher=David M. Cheney |date=February 13, 2024 |accessdate=March 24, 2024}}</ref> |- |1853 |Diocese of Burlington |Vermont.<ref name="catholic-hierarchy.org" /> |- |1853 |Diocese of Portland |Maine and New Hampshire .<ref name="catholic-hierarchy.org" /> |- |1870 |Diocese of Springfield |Counties in western and central Massachusetts<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Springfield in Massachusetts (Diocese) |url=http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dspma.html |encyclopedia=Catholic-Hierarchy.org |publisher=David M. Cheney |date=June 16, 2023 |accessdate=March 24, 2024}}</ref> |}

===Diocesan offices=== 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 the Brighton neighborhood of Boston.<ref name="changes2007">{{Cite web |title=Changes come to Lake Street - The Boston Globe |url=https://archive.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2007/05/24/changes_come_to_lake_street/ |access-date=2023-10-26 |website=archive.boston.com |language=en}}</ref> "Lake Street" was a metonym for the bishop and the office of the archdiocese.<ref name="changes2007" />

In June 2004, the archdiocese sold the archbishop's residence and the chancery and surrounding lands in Brighton to Boston College, in part to defray costs associated with numerous cases of sexual abuse by clergy of the archdiocese.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Zezima |first=Katie |date=2004-04-21 |title=Boston Archdiocese to Sell Land to Raise $100 Million |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/21/us/boston-archdiocese-to-sell-land-to-raise-100-million.html |access-date=2024-01-02 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The archdiocesan offices of the archdiocese moved to Braintree. The archdiocesan seminary, Saint John's Seminary, remains on the property in Brighton.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Archdiocese of Boston finalizes property sale to Boston College |url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/1460/archdiocese-of-boston-finalizes-property-sale-to-boston-college |access-date=2024-01-02 |website=Catholic News Agency |language=en}}</ref>

=== Clergy sexual abuse scandals and settlements === thumb|Cardinal Law (2013) {{Main|Sexual abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston}}

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.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/stories5/091003_settlement.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030920065909/http://www.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/stories5/091003_settlement.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 20, 2003|title=Church in an $85 million accord|publisher=Boston Globe|author1=Kevin Cullen |author2=Stephen Kurkjian|date=September 10, 2003}}</ref> Victims received an average of $92,000 each. Perpetrators included 140 priests and two others.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Howe |first=Peter |date=September 10, 2017 |title=Largest sexual abuse settlements by Roman Catholic institutions in the U.S. |work=San Diego Union-Tribune |url=http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sd-me-settlements-20170831-story.html |access-date=January 2, 2023}}</ref>

Additional sex abuse allegations within the Archdiocese of Boston surfaced in later years. This included alleged abuse at Saint John's Seminary and Arlington Catholic High School.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-08-15 |title=Cardinal to miss World Meeting of Families to tend to seminary matters |url=https://cruxnow.com/wmf-ireland/2018/08/15/cardinal-to-miss-world-meeting-of-families-to-tend-to-seminary-matters/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190627154658/https://cruxnow.com/wmf-ireland/2018/08/15/cardinal-to-miss-world-meeting-of-families-to-tend-to-seminary-matters/ |archive-date=2019-06-27 |access-date=2023-12-22 |website=Crux}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/05/23/metro/cardinal-omalley-other-church-leaders-failed-prevent-abuse-three-former-arlington-catholic-students-lawsuit-claims/|title=Lawsuit alleges Cardinal O'Malley, other church leaders failed to prevent abuse of three former Arlington Catholic students|first=John|last=Hillard|publisher=Boston Globe|date=May 23, 2023|accessdate=December 22, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.wbur.org/news/2023/05/22/archdiocese-boston-cardinal-omalley-lawsuit|title=3 people sue cardinal, bishops, over alleged sex abuse by Arlington Catholic High ex-principal|first1=Simón|last1=Rios|first2=Lisa|last2=Creamer|publisher=WBUR|date=May 22, 2023|accessdate=December 22, 2023}}</ref>

The Archdiocese of Boston lobbies against the proposed law to remove the statute of limitations on child sexual abuse lawsuits.<ref>{{cite news |title=Archdiocese of Boston opposes Mass. bill to amend statute of limitations |date=October 6, 2023 |work=MassLive |first=Alvin |last=Buyinza |url=https://www.masslive.com/politics/2023/10/archdiocese-of-boston-opposes-mass-bill-to-amend-statue-of-limitations.html }}</ref> From 2011 and 2019 the Catholic church in Massachusetts spent over half a million dollars lobbying against such laws.<ref>{{cite magazine |work=Ms. |title='Deliver Us From Evil': Rape, Reproductive Coercion and the Catholic Church |first=Carrie N. |last=Baker |date=January 30, 2024 |url=https://msmagazine.com/2024/01/30/rape-abortion-catholic-church-sexual-child-abuse-priests/ }}</ref>

==Coat of arms== The coat of arms of the archdiocese has a blue shield with a gold cross and a gold "trimount" over a silver and blue "Barry-wavy" at the base of the shield.

* The "trimount" of three ''coupreaux'' represents the City of Boston, the original name of which was Trimountaine in reference to the three hills that were the site of the city's original settlement. * The cross, ''fleurettée'', honors the Cathedral of the Holy Cross. It also serves as a reminder that John Cheverus, the first bishop of Boston, and other early ecclesiastics were French. * The "Barry-wavy" is a symbol of the sea. It alludes to Boston's role as a major seaport whose first non-indigenous settlers came from across the sea.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of the Coat of Arms |url=https://bostoncatholic.org/archdiocese-of-boston-crest-and-logo |access-date=January 2, 2024 |website=Archdiocese of Boston}}</ref>

==Communications media== The diocesan newspaper ''The Pilot'' has been published in Boston since 1829.

The Catholictv Network was founded as the Catholic Television Center in 1955. From 1964 to 1966, it owned and operated the broadcast television station WIHS-TV.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The History of The CatholicTV Network {{!}} CatholicTV |url=https://www.catholictv.org/about-us-history.html |access-date=2026-04-15 |website=www.catholictv.org}}</ref>

==Ecclesiastical province== [[File:Archdiocese of Boston.png|thumb|right|222px|Ecclesiastical Province of Boston]] {{Further|List of Catholic bishops of the United States}} The Archdiocese of Boston is also the 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. {{Clear}}

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

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left;" |+ Pastoral regions of the Archdiocese of Boston |- ! scope="col" | Pastoral region ! scope="col" | Episcopal vicar ! scope="col" | Territory ! scope="col" | Parishes ! scope="col" | Institutions of higher education ! scope="col" | High schools ! scope="col" | Primary schools ! scope="col" | Cemeteries |- | Central | Auxiliary Bishop Cristiano B. Barbosa<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=Archbishops, Bishops, Vicars |url=https://bostoncatholic.org/archbishops-bishops-vicars |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=Archdiocese of Boston |language=en}}</ref> | Boston, Brookline, Cambridge,Somerville, Winthrop | align="center" |64 |{{ubl|Boston College|Emmanuel College|St. John's Seminary}} | align="center" |6 | align="center" |29 | align="center" |8 |- | Merrimack | Auxiliary Bishop Robert F. Hennessey<ref name=":4" /> | Northern Essex County, Northern Middlesex County | align="center" |49 | Merrimack College | align="center" |3 | align="center" | (TBD) | align="center" |4 |- | North | Monsignor Brian McHugh<ref name=":4" /> | Southern Essex County, Eastern Middlesex County | align="center" | 64 | none | align="center" | 4 | align="center" | 6 (?) | align="center" |11 |- | South | Monsignor Robert Connors <ref name=":4" /> | Plymouth County, Eastern Norfolk County | align="center" | 59 | Labouré College | align="center" | 3 | align="center" | (TBD) | align="center" | 3 |- | West | Auxiliary Bishop Robert P. Reed<ref name=":4" /> | Southern Middlesex County, Western Norfolk Country | align="center" | 67 | Regis College | align="center" | 3 | align="center" | 11 | align="center" | 7 |}

===Bishops of Boston=== # Jean-Louis Lefebvre de Cheverus (1808–1823) appointed Bishop of Montauban and later Archbishop of Bordeaux (elevated to Cardinal in 1836) # Benedict Joseph Fenwick (1825–1846) # John Bernard Fitzpatrick (1846–1866; coadjutor bishop 1844–1846) # John Joseph Williams (1866–1875; coadjutor bishop 1866); elevated to Archbishop

===Archbishops of Boston=== # John Joseph Williams (1875–1907) # William Henry O'Connell (1907–1944; coadjutor archbishop 1906–1907) # Richard James Cushing (1944–1970) # Humberto Sousa Medeiros (1970–1983) # Bernard Francis Law (1984–2002), resigned; later appointed Archpriest of the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore # Seán Patrick O'Malley (2003–2024){{efn|Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley, OFM Cap., on August 5, 2024, and appointed Bishop Richard G. Henning of Providence, as his successor.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pope Francis Accepts Resignation of Cardinal Seán O'Malley, OFM Cap., of the Archdiocese of Boston; Appoints Bishop Richard Henning as Successor {{!}} USCCB |url=https://www.usccb.org/news/2024/pope-francis-accepts-resignation-cardinal-sean-omalley-ofm-cap-archdiocese-boston |access-date=2024-08-05 |website=www.usccb.org |language=en}}</ref> Henning was installed on October 31, 2024.}} # Richard Henning (2024–present)

===Current auxiliary bishops of Boston=== * Robert Francis Hennessey (2006–present) * Peter John Uglietto (2010–present) * Robert P. Reed (2016–present) * Cristiano Borro Barbosa (2024–present)

===Former auxiliary bishops of Boston=== * John Brady (1891–1910) * Joseph Gaudentius Anderson (1909–1927) * John Bertram Peterson (1927–1932), Bishop of Manchester * Francis Spellman (1932–1939), Archbishop of New York (Cardinal in 1946) * Richard J. Cushing (1939–1944), Archbishop here (Cardinal in 1958) * Louis Francis Kelleher (1945–1946) * John Wright (1947–1950), Bishop of Worcester, then Bishop of Pittsburgh, then 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), Bishop of Fall River and later Archbishop of Hartford * Joseph Francis Maguire (1972–1976), Coadjutor Bishop of Springfield in Massachusetts and subsequently succeeded to that see * Lawrence Joseph Riley (1972–1990) * Joseph John Ruocco (1975–1980) * Thomas Vose Daily (1975–1984), Bishop of Palm Beach and later Bishop of Brooklyn * John Joseph Mulcahy (1975–1992) * John Michael D'Arcy (1975–1985), Bishop of Fort Wayne-South Bend * Daniel Anthony Hart (1976–1995), Bishop of Norwich * Alfred C. Hughes (1981–1993), Bishop of Baton Rouge and later Archbishop of New Orleans * Robert J. Banks (1985–1990), Bishop of Green Bay * Roberto Octavio González Nieves (1988–1995), Coadjutor Bishop of Corpus Christi and subsequently succeeded to that see, and later Archbishop of San Juan in Puerto Rico * John R. McNamara (1992–1999) * John P. Boles (1992–2006) * John Brendan McCormack (1995–1998), Bishop of Manchester * William F. Murphy (1995–2001), Bishop of Rockville Centre * Francis Xavier Irwin (1996–2009) * Emilio S. Allué (1996–2010) * Richard Joseph Malone (2000–2004), Bishop of Portland and later Bishop of Buffalo * Richard Lennon (2001–2006), Bishop of Cleveland * Walter James Edyvean (2001–2014) * John Anthony Dooher (2006–2018) * Arthur L. Kennedy (2010–2017) * Robert P. Deeley (2013–2014), Bishop of Portland * Mark William O'Connell (2016–2025), Bishop of Albany

===Other archdiocesan priests who became bishops=== * William Barber Tyler, Bishop of Hartford in 1843 * Patrick Thomas O'Reilly, Bishop of Springfield in Massachusetts in 1870 * James Augustine Healy, Bishop of Portland in 1875 * Lawrence Stephen McMahon (priest here, 1860–1872), appointed Bishop of Hartford in 1879 * Matthew Harkins, Bishop of Providence in 1887 * Edward Patrick Allen, Bishop of Mobile in 1897 * Louis Sebastian Walsh, Bishop of Portland in 1906 * John Joseph Nilan, Bishop of Hartford in 1910 * James Anthony Walsh, Superior General of Maryknoll and consecrated Titular Bishop in 1933 * Edward Francis Ryan, Bishop of Burlington in 1944 * John Joseph Glynn, Auxiliary Bishop for the Military Services, USA in 1991 *Richard Joseph Malone, Bishop of Portland in 2002 and later Bishop of Buffalo<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.buffalodiocese.org/bishop-malone|title=Bishop Richard J. Malone {{!}} Diocese of Buffalo|website=www.buffalodiocese.org|access-date=2019-04-25}}</ref> in 2012 * Christopher J. Coyne, Auxiliary Bishop of Indianapolis in 2011 and later Bishop of Burlington and Coadjutor Archbishop of Hartford in 2023 and succeeded to Archbishop of Hartford in 2024 * Paul Fitzpatrick Russell,<ref>See: List of Catholic bishops of the United States#American bishops serving outside the United States.</ref> Apostolic Nuncio to Turkey and Turkmenistan and Titular Archbishop in 2016

==Churches== {{Main|List of churches in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston}}

==Seminaries== *Pope St. John XXIII National Seminary, Weston<ref>{{Cite web |title=Home {{!}} Pope St. John XXIII National Seminary |url=https://psjs.edu/ |access-date=2026-04-16 |website=psjs.edu}}</ref> *St. John's Seminary, Brighton *Redemptoris Mater Archdiocesan Missionary Seminary, Brookline

==Education== thumb|Emmanuel College, Boston, Massachusetts (2011) thumb|Regis College, Weston, Massachusetts (2011) thumb|Boston College, Boston, Massachusetts (2018) As of 2025, the archdiocese had 92 schools with approximately 32,000 students taught by 3,000 faculty members in pre-kindergarten through high school.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Catholic Schools Office |url=https://csoboston.org/ |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=Catholic Schools Office |language=en}}</ref>

In 1993, the archdiocese had 53,569 students in 195 schools. Boston had the largest number of parochial schools: 48 schools with 16,000 students.<ref>Nealon, Patricia. "[https://www.proquest.com/docview/294749805 Parochial pupils add X factor to city school-choice equation]." ''Boston Globe''. April 28, 1993. Retrieved on September 28, 2013.</ref>

=== Colleges and universities === * Boston College, Chestnut Hill<ref>{{Cite web |title=Home |url=https://www.bc.edu/bc-web.html |access-date=2026-04-15 |website=Boston College |language=en}}</ref> * Emmanuel College, Boston<ref>{{Cite web |date=2026-04-13 |title=Home |url=https://www.emmanuel.edu/home |access-date=2026-04-15 |website=Emmanuel College |language=en}}</ref> * Merrimack College, North Andover<ref>{{Cite web |title=Merrimack College {{!}} Selective, Private College Massachusetts |url=https://www.merrimack.edu/ |access-date=2026-04-16 |website=www.merrimack.edu |language=en-US}}</ref> * Regis College, Weston<ref>{{Cite web |title=Regis College |url=https://www.regiscollege.edu/ |access-date=2026-04-16 |website=Regis College}}</ref>

===Primary and secondary schools=== {{See also|List of schools in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston}}

=== High schools === {| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! scope="col" | School ! scope="col" | Location ! scope="col" | Affiliation with religious order or independent ! scope="col" | Founded |- | Academy of Notre Dame<ref>{{Cite web |title=Academy of Notre Dame |url=https://www.ndatyngsboro.org/ |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=www.ndatyngsboro.org}}</ref> | Tyngsboro | Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur |1854 |- | Archbishop Williams High School<ref>{{Cite web |title=Home - Archbishop Williams High School |url=https://www.awhs.org/ |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=www.awhs.org |language=en-US}}</ref> | Braintree |Independent |1949 |- | Arlington Catholic High School<ref>{{Cite web |title=Catholic Schools in Boston, MA {{!}} Private Elementary Schools {{!}} ACHSSAS |url=https://www.achssas.org/ |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=www.achssas.org}}</ref> | Arlington |Independent |1960 |- | Austin Preparatory School<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-06-03 |title=Home - Austin Preparatory School |url=https://www.austinprep.org/ |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=www.austinprep.org |language=en-US}}</ref> | Reading |Independent |1961 |- | Bishop Fenwick High School<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bishop Fenwick |url=https://fenwick.org/ |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=Bishop Fenwick |language=en-US}}</ref> | Peabody |Independent |1958 |- | BC High<ref>{{Cite web |title=BC High Catholic High School in Boston |url=https://www.bchigh.edu/ |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=www.bchigh.edu |language=en}}</ref> | Dorchester (Boston) | Society of Jesus |1863 |- | Cardinal Spellman High School<ref>{{Cite web |title=Home - Cardinal Spellman High School |url=https://www.spellman.com/ |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=www.spellman.com |language=en-US}}</ref> | Brockton |Independent |1958 |- | Cathedral High School<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-07-04 |title=Cathedral 7-12 College Prep Catholic High School in Boston |url=https://www.cathedralboston.org/ |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=Cathedral 7-12 High School |language=en-US}}</ref> | South End (Boston) |Independent |1926 |- | Catholic Memorial<ref>{{Cite web |title=Catholic Memorial {{!}} A Private College Prep School in Boston. |url=https://www.catholicmemorial.org/ |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=www.catholicmemorial.org |language=en}}</ref> | West Roxbury (Boston) | Congregation of Christian Brothers |1957 |- | Central Catholic High School<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-07-04 |title=Home - Central Catholic High School - Lawrence |url=https://www.centralcatholic.net/ |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=www.centralcatholic.net |language=en-US}}</ref> | Lawrence | Marist Brothers |1935 |- | Fontbonne Academy<ref>{{Cite web |title=Empowerment & Excellence at Fontbonne {{!}} Boston, MA |url=https://www.fontbonneboston.org/ |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=www.fontbonneboston.org |language=en}}</ref> | Milton | Sisters of St. Joseph |1954 |- | Lowell Catholic<ref>{{Cite web |title=Homepage |url=https://www.lowellcatholic.org/s/400/bp21/home.aspx |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=www.lowellcatholic.org |language=en}}</ref> | Lowell | Xaverian Brothers |1989 |- | Malden Catholic<ref>{{Cite web |title=Home - Malden Catholic |url=https://www.maldencatholic.org/ |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=www.maldencatholic.org |language=en-US}}</ref> | Malden | Xaverian Brothers |1968 |- | Newton Country Day School of the Sacred Heart<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-07-04 |title=Newton Country Day School {{!}} Independent School for Girls |url=https://www.newtoncountryday.org/ |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=www.newtoncountryday.org |language=en-US}}</ref> | Newton | Society of the Sacred Heart |1880 |- | Notre Dame Academy<ref>{{Cite web |title=Home - Notre Dame Academy {{!}} Hingham |url=https://www.ndahingham.com/ |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=www.ndahingham.com |language=en-US}}</ref> | Hingham | Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur |1853 |- | Notre Dame Cristo Rey High School<ref>{{Cite web |title=Notre Dame Cristo Rey High School |url=https://www.ndcrhs.org/ |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=www.ndcrhs.org}}</ref> | Lawrence | Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur |2004 |- | Saint Joseph Preparatory Boston<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Summit Federal Credit Union {{!}} Personal Banking & Loans |url=https://www.summitfcu.org/ |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=The Summit Federal Credit Union |language=en-US}}</ref> | Brighton (Boston) | Sisters of St. Joseph |2012 |- | Saint Sebastian's School<ref>{{Cite web |title=Home - St. Sebastian's {{!}} All Boys Independent Catholic School |url=https://www.stsebs.org/ |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=www.stsebs.org |language=en-US}}</ref> | Needham |Independent |1941 |- | St. John's Prep<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-07-16 |title=St. John's Prep |url=https://www.stjohnsprep.org/ |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=www.stjohnsprep.org |language=en-US}}</ref> | Danvers | Xaverian Brothers |1907 |- | St. Mary's Lynn<ref>{{Cite web |title=Private, Catholic, College-Prep School - St. Mary's Lynn, MA |url=https://www.stmaryslynn.com/ |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=www.stmaryslynn.com |language=en-US}}</ref> | Lynn |Independent |1881 |- | Ursuline Academy<ref>{{Cite web |title=Catholic School For Women - Ursuline Academy |url=https://www.ursulineacademy.net/ |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=www.ursulineacademy.net |language=en-US}}</ref> | Dedham | Ursuline Sisters |1819 |- | Xaverian Brothers High School<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Private Boys School for Grades 7-12 in Westwood, MA |url=https://www.xbhs.com/ |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=www.xbhs.com}}</ref> | Westwood | Xaverian Brothers |1963 |}

==Other facilities== The archdiocese previously used a headquarters facility in Brighton but sold it to Boston College in 2004 for $107,400,000.<ref>{{cite web|author=Paulson, Michael|url=https://archive.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/stories5/042104_sale.htm|title=Diocesan headquarters sold to BC|newspaper=Boston Globe|date=2004-04-21|access-date=2020-06-27}}</ref>Steward Health Care System operates the former archdiocesan hospitals of Caritas Christi Health Care.

==Notes== {{notelist}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Sources== {{refbegin}} * {{Cite book|last=Clarke|first=Richard H.|title=Lives of the Deceased Bishops of the Catholic Church in the United States|publisher=P. O'Shea|year=1872|isbn=|volume=1|location=New York|pages=374–413|chapter=Rt. Rev. Benedict Joseph Fenwick, D.D.|oclc=809578529|access-date=May 28, 2020|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/LivesOfTheDeceasedBishopsV1/page/n379/mode/2up|via=Internet Archive}} * {{Cite journal|last=Lord|first=Robert H.|date=July 1936|title=The Organizer of the Church in New England: Bishop Benedict Joseph Fenwick (1782–1846)|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_catholic-historical-review_1936-07_22_2/page/172|journal=The Catholic Historical Review|volume=22|issue=2|pages=172–184|jstor=25013478}} * {{Cite book|last=O'Connor|first=Thomas H.|url=https://archive.org/details/bostoncatholicsh00ocon/page/40/mode/2up/|title=Boston Catholics: A History of the Church and Its People|publisher=Northeastern University Press|year=1998|isbn=1-55553-359-0|location=Boston|pages=|via=Internet Archive}} * {{Cite book|last=Tager|first=Jack|url=https://archive.org/details/bostonriotsthree00tage/page/108/mode/2up|title=Boston Riots: Three Centuries of Social Violence|publisher=Northeastern University Press|year=2001|isbn=1-55553-461-9|location=Boston|pages=|access-date=November 13, 2021|via=Internet Archive}} {{refend}}

==External links== *{{Official website|https://www.bostoncatholic.org/}} **{{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/*/http://www.rcab.org/|title=Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Official Site (rcab.org)}} *[http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dbost.html Catholic Hierarchy Profile of the Archdiocese of Boston] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20020412100617/http://www.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/ ''Boston Globe'' / Spotlight / Abuse in the Catholic Church] *[http://bostoncatholicinsider.wordpress.com/ Boston Catholic Insider (critical blog)] *[http://catholicschoolsboston.org/ Boston Catholic Schools]

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