Archdiocese of Boston Archidioecesis Bostoniensis |
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![]() Coat of arms of the Archdiocese of Boston
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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] (46.4%) |
Information | |
Denomination | Roman Catholic |
Rite | Roman Rite |
Established | April 8, 1808 |
Cathedral | Cathedral of the Holy Cross |
Patron saint | Saint Patrick |
Current leadership | |
Pope | Francis |
Archbishop | Seán Patrick O'Malley, O.F.M. Cap. |
Auxiliary Bishops | John Anthony Dooher Walter James Edyvean Robert Francis Hennessey Arthur Leo Kennedy Peter John Uglietto |
Emeritus Bishops | Emilio S. Allué, SDB John Patrick Boles Francis Xavier Irwin |
Map | |
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Website | |
BostonCatholic.org |
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]
Contents
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
![](https://web.archive.org/web/20140821000447im_/http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ab/Archdiocese_of_Boston.png/222px-Archdiocese_of_Boston.png)
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 five pastoral regions, each headed by an episcopal vicar.
Pastoral Region | Episcopal vicar | Location | Parishes | Notable parishes | Catholic institutions of higher education | High schools | Elementary schools | Cemeteries |
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Central | Robert Francis Hennessey | Boston (all neighborhoods), Brookline, Cambridge, Somerville, Winthrop | 64 | Cathedral, the Mission Church | Boston College, Emmanuel College, Labouré College, Our Lady of Grace Seminary (Boston), St. John's Seminary | 6 | 29 | 8 |
Merrimack | Currently vacant | northern portion of Essex County and the northeastern portion of Middlesex County | 49 | Merrimack College | 3 | (TBD) | 4 | |
North | Peter John Uglietto | southern portion of Essex County | 64 | Marian Court College | 4 | 6 (?) | 11 | |
South | John Anthony Dooher | Plymouth County and most of Norfolk County | 59 | 3 | (TBD) | 3 | ||
West | Walter James Edyvean | southern portion of Middlesex County and the western portion of Norfolk County | 67 | Regis College | 3 | 11 | 7 |
List of bishops and archbishops
The following is a list of the diocesan bishops of Boston:
- Jean-Louis Lefebvre de Cheverus, Bishop (1808–1823) appointed Bishop of Montauban, France
- Benedict Joseph Fenwick, S.J., Bishop (1825–1846) died
- John Bernard Fitzpatrick, Bishop (1846–1866) died
- John Joseph Williams, 1st Archbishop (1866–1907) died
- Cardinal William Henry O'Connell, 2nd Archbishop (1907–1944) died
- Cardinal Richard Cushing, 3rd Archbishop (1944–1970) retired
- Cardinal Humberto Sousa Medeiros, 4th Archbishop (1970–1983) died
- Cardinal Bernard Francis Law, 5th Archbishop (1984–2002) resigned, appointed Archpriest of the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore in 2004
- Cardinal Seán Patrick O'Malley, O.F.M.Cap., 6th Archbishop (2003–present)
Seminaries
- Blessed John XXIII National Seminary
- St. John's Seminary
- Redemptoris Mater Archdiocesan Missionary Seminary
Schools
As of 2012, the diocese has 124 schools with about 43,000 students in pre-kindergarten through high school.[9]
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.[10]
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, Dorchester
- Cardinal Spellman High School, Brockton
- Cathedral High School, Boston
- Catholic Memorial High School, West Roxbury
- Central Catholic High School, Lawrence
- Cristo Rey Boston High School, Dorchester
- 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
- Saint Joseph Preparatory Boston
- Nazareth Academy, Wakefield
- Newton Country Day School, Newton
- Notre Dame Academy, Hingham
- Notre Dame High School, Lawrence
- Pope John XXIII High School, Everett
- Presentation of Mary Academy, Methuen
- 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
- Ursuline Academy, Dedham
- Xaverian Brothers High School, Westwood
–===Former high schools===
- Cardinal Cushing High School, South Boston
- Christopher Columbus High School. Boston
- Don Bosco Technical High School, Boston (closed 1998)
- Holy Trinity High School, Roxbury (closed 1966)
- Hudson Catholic High School, Hudson (closed 2009)
- Keith Academy, Lowell
- Keith Hall, Lowell
- Monsignor Ryan High School, South Boston
- St Clare's High School, Roslindale
- Savio Preparatory High School, East Boston (closed 2007)
- Trinity Catholic High School, Newton (closed 2012)
- Our Lady of Nazareth Academy, Wakefield (closed 2009)
See also
- Steward Health Care System, a company operating the former archdiocesan hospitals of Caritas Christi Health Care
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)
- Boston Catholic Schools
References
- ^ Catholic Hierarchy page
- ^ Ibid.
- ^ Paulson, Michael (May 1, 2009). "Diocese makes financial progress". The Boston Globe. Retrieved May 25, 2009.
- ^ Kerber, Ross (January 29, 2007). "Bless you, we take Visa". The Boston Globe. Retrieved January 29, 2007.
- ^ Kevin Cullen and Stephen Kurkjian (September 10, 2003). "Church in an $85 million accord". Boston Globe.
- ^ Diocesan headquarters sold to BC The Boston Globe, April 21, 2004.
- ^ Statement of the Archdiocese of Boston and Boston College on sale of part of Brighton campus The Boston Globe, April 20, 2004.]
- ^ Oslin, Reid, "Campus Construction Update: Stokes, Brighton Campus Projects Begin", The Boston College Chronicle, September 9, 2010
- ^ http://catholicschoolsboston.org/mission.html
- ^ Nealon, Patricia. "Parochial pupils add X factor to city school-choice equation." Boston Globe. April 28, 1993. Retrieved on September 28, 2013.
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