{{Short description|American prelate (1896–1979)}} {{Infobox Christian leader | honorific-prefix = His Excellency, The Most Reverend | name = Thomas Aloysius Boland | honorific-suffix = | archbishop_of = Archbishop of Newark<br>Titular Bishop of Hirina | image = Thomas Aloysius Boland.jpg | caption = | province = | diocese = | see = Archdiocese of Newark | enthroned = January 14, 1953 | ended = April 2, 1974 | predecessor = Thomas Walsh | successor = Peter Leo Gerety | ordination = December 23, 1922 | consecration = July 25, 1940 | other_post = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date|1896|2|17|mf=y}} | birth_place = Orange, New Jersey, US | death_date = {{death date and age|1979|3|16|1896|2|17|mf=y}} | death_place = Orange, New Jersey | religion = Roman Catholic Church | education = Seton Hall College<br>Pontifical Urbaniana University | ordained_by = Basilio Pompilj | consecrated_by = Thomas Walsh | previous_post = Auxiliary Bishop of Newark (1940–1947)<br>Bishop of Paterson<br>(1947–1952) }} {{Infobox bishopstyles | name=Thomas Aloysius Boland | dipstyle=The Most Reverend | offstyle=Your Excellency | relstyle=Monsignor | deathstyle=none |}} {{Ordination | consecrated by = Thomas Walsh (Newark) | date of consecration = July 25, 1940 | bishop 1 = Justin J. McCarthy | consecration date 1 = June 11, 1954 | bishop 2 = Walter William Curtis | consecration date 2 = September 24, 1957 | bishop 3 = Martin Walter Stanton | consecration date 3 = September 24, 1957 | bishop 4 = Joseph Arthur Costello | consecration date 4 = January 24, 1963 | bishop 5 = John Joseph Dougherty | consecration date 5 = January 24, 1963 | bishop 6 = John Edward Cohill, S.V.D. | consecration date 6 = March 11, 1967 }}
'''Thomas Aloysius Boland''' (February 17, 1896 – March 16, 1979) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Newark in New Jersey from 1952 to 1974. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the same diocese from 1940 to 1947 and bishop of the Diocese of Paterson in New Jersey from 1947 to 1952.
==Biography==
=== Early life === Thomas Boland was born on February 17, 1896, in Orange, New Jersey, to John Peter and Ellen Agnes (née O'Rourke) Boland.<ref name="curtis">{{cite book|last=Curtis|first=Georgina Pell|title=The American Catholic Who's Who|volume=XIV|year=1961|publisher=Walter Romig|location=Grosse Pointe, Michigan}}</ref> He received his early education at the St. John's School, the parish school of St. John the Evangelist Parish in Orange<ref name="archbishop">{{cite news|date=1952-11-19|work=The New York Times|title=PATERSON PRELATE NAMED ARCHBISHOP; Boland Designated Successor to Walsh of New York, Whom He Served as Auxiliary}}</ref> He then attended St. Francis Xavier High School in New York City.<ref name="paterson">{{cite news|date=1947-09-19|work=The New York Times|title=BOLAND BECOMES PATERSON BISHOP; Installed as Spiritual Leader of 135,000 in North Jersey—Walsh Conducts Services}}</ref>
In 1915, Boland enrolled at Seton Hall College in South Orange, New Jersey.<ref name="curtis" /> He graduated from Seton Hall in 1919 as valedictorian of his class.<ref name="newark">{{cite news|work=Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark|title=Most Reverend Thomas A. Boland, S.T.D., LL.D.|url=http://www.rcan.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=feature.display&feature_id=115}}</ref> He then began his studies for the priesthood at the Pontifical North American College in Rome.<ref name="newark" /> He earned a Doctor of Sacred Theology degree from the Pontifical Urbaniana University.<ref name="archbishop" />
=== Priesthood === On December 23, 1922, Boland was ordained by Cardinal Basilio Pompilj as a priest of what was then the Diocese of Newark. The ordination took place in Rome at the Basilica of St. John Lateran.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Archbishop Thomas Aloysius Boland [Catholic-Hierarchy] |url=https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bbolandt.html |access-date=2025-09-26 |website=www.catholic-hierarchy.org}}</ref> Following his return to New Jersey, the archdiocese assigned Walsh as s a curate at St. Catherine's Parish in Hillside.<ref name="paterson" /> He also served at St. Mary's Parish in Nutley. New Jersey.<ref name="archbishop" /> In addition to his pastoral duties, Boland taught sacred scripture and classical languages at Seton Hall Preparatory School and Seton Hall College.<ref name="curtis" />
From 1926 to 1938, Boland served as professor of moral theology and canon law at Immaculate Conception Seminary in Darlington, New Jersey.<ref name="curtis" /> In 1933, he became an official of the archdiocesan tribunal with the duty of adjudicating marriages with validity issues.<ref name="archbishop" /> That same year, he was named moderator of the priests' conferences.<ref name="archbishop" /> Boland was appointed chancellor of the archdiocese in 1938.<ref name="curtis" />
=== Auxiliary Bishop of Newark === On May 21, 1940, Boland was appointed as an auxiliary bishop of Newark and titular bishop of ''Hirina'' by Pope Pius XII.<ref name=":0" /> He received his episcopal consecration on July 25, 1940, from Archbishop Thomas Walsh, with Bishops William A. Griffin and Bartholomew J. Eustace serving as co-consecrators.<ref name=":0" />
As an auxiliary bishop, Boland served as rector of Immaculate Conception Seminary from 1940 to 1947.<ref name="curtis" /> In this capacity, he taught pastoral theology and liturgy and lectured on the archdiocesan statutes.<ref name="seton">{{cite news|work=Seton Hall University|title=Modern Times at Darlington|url=http://www.shu.edu/academics/theology/sesquicentennial/modern-darlington.cfm}}</ref> He also served as director of the Newark branch of the National Organization for Decent Literature, and as promoter of the archdiocesan synod held in 1941.<ref name="archbishop" />
=== Bishop of Paterson === thumb|294x294px|Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Newark, New Jersey (2015) Following the death of Bishop Thomas H. McLaughlin, Boland was named the second bishop of Paterson on June 21, 1947, by Pius XII.<ref name=":0" /> His installation took place at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson on September 18, 1947.<ref name="paterson" />
=== Archbishop of Newark === Boland was appointed the second archbishop of Newark on November 15, 1952.<ref name=":0" /> He was installed at Sacred Heart Church in Newark, New Jersey, on January 14, 1953.<ref name="installed">{{cite news|date=1953-01-15|work=The New York Times|title=BOLAND INSTALLED AS ARCHBISHOP; Apostolic Delegate Presides at Newark Ceremony—Pallium Yet to Be Conferred|last=Sheldon|first=Preston King}}</ref> On October 19, 1954, he formally dedicated the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Newark.<ref name="cathedral">{{cite news|date=1954-10-20|work=The New York Times|title=NEW CATHEDRAL IN NEWARK OPENS|last=Zerner|first=Charles}}</ref> At the same ceremony, he received the pallium, a vestment worn by metropolitan bishops, from Archbishop Amleto Cicognani, the apostolic delegate to the United States.<ref name="installed" />
In 1960, Immaculate Heart Academy, the first regional high schools for girls in the archdiocese, was founded in Washington Township, New Jersey by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace. In 1962, the Xavierian Brothers founded St. Joseph Regional High School in Montvale, New Jersey,<ref>{{Cite web |title=History |url=https://www.saintjosephregional.org/apps/pages/history |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241105030538/https://www.saintjosephregional.org/apps/pages/history |archive-date=2024-11-05 |access-date=2025-09-26 |website=www.saintjosephregional.org |language=en}}</ref> Paramus Catholic High School in Paramus, New opened during the same time period
Between 1962 and 1965, Boland attended all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council in Rome, where he was elected to head the Bishops' Study Committee.<ref name="newark" /> In June 1965, he was named an assistant at the pontifical throne by Pope Paul VI for "establishing numerous parishes, opening many parochial schools and admitting the laity to active participation in the apostolate of the sacred ecclesiastical hierarchy."<ref name="jubilee">{{cite news|date=1965-06-24|work=The New York Times|title=Archbishop Boland Marks Jubilee}}</ref> He was also a member of the Catholic Mission Board of the United States, chair of the Episcopal Committee, and liaison between women religious and the American Catholic bishops.<ref name="newark" />
In January 1969, a group of 20 priests of the archdiocese accused Boland of adopting a "white racist attitude" toward African Americans and said he must be charged with;<blockquote>"...the bigotry of indolence and the prejudice of apathy."<ref name="racism">{{cite news|date=1969-01-10|work=The New York Times|title=Newark Prelate, Accused of Racism, Defends Programs}}</ref> Along with these accusations of racism, the group of priests presented a list of demands, which called for the formation of an advisory committee of priests for inner-city affairs, an improved method of screening priests in African American areas, and the transfer of some pastors who have "not proven a predisposition for justice by their performance."<ref name="racism" /> </blockquote>In response, Boland issued a seven-page report that outlined the programs the archdiocese had taken in regard to African-Americans.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |date=1979-03-18 |title=Archbishop Thomas Boland, 83, Of Newark Archdiocese Is Dead (Published 1979) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/03/18/archives/archbishop-thomas-boland-83-of-newark-archdiocese-is-dead-parade.html?searchResultPosition=1 |access-date=2025-09-26 |language=en}}</ref> He declared, <blockquote>"No one can truthfully say I have not made every effort to bring to reality those plans which I have felt could be of advantage, whether for spiritual or temporal goals, of the disadvantaged in our midst.<ref name=":1" /></blockquote>
==Retirement and legacy== Boland's resignation as archbishop of Newark was accepted by Pope Paul VI on April 2, 1974.<ref name=":0" /> Thomas Boland died at St. Mary's Hospital in Orange on March 16, 1979, at age 83.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> He was buried in the crypt of the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart.<ref name="newark" />
==References== {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-rel|ca}} {{succession box | title=Auxiliary Bishop of Newark | before=– | after=– | years=July 25, 1940 – June 21, 1947}} {{succession box | title=Bishop of Paterson | before=Thomas Henry McLaughlin | after=James Aloysius McNulty| years=June 21, 1947 – November 15, 1952}} {{succession box | title=Archbishop of Newark | before=Thomas Joseph Walsh | after=Peter Leo Gerety | years=November 15, 1952 – March 25, 1974}} {{s-end}}
{{Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark}} {{Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boland, Thomas Aloysius}} Category:1896 births Category:1979 deaths Category:Roman Catholic archbishops of Newark Category:20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the United States Category:Participants in the Second Vatican Council Category:Seton Hall University alumni Category:Civil rights activists from New Jersey Category:Clergy from Orange, New Jersey Category:Seton Hall University faculty Category:Roman Catholic bishops of Paterson Category:Roman Catholic bishops of Newark Category:20th-century American people