Seán Patrick O'Malley | |
|---|---|
| Cardinal, Archbishop-emeritusof Boston | |
 O'Malley outside Gate of Heaven Church, South Boston, 2009 | |
| Church | Roman Catholic Church |
| Archdiocese | Boston |
| Appointed | July 1, 2003 |
| Installed | July 30, 2003 |
| Retired | August 5, 2024 |
| Predecessor | Bernard Francis Law |
| Successor | Richard Henning |
| Other posts | Cardinal-Priest ofS. Maria della Vittoria Member of theCouncil of Cardinal Advisers |
| Previous posts |
|
| Orders | |
| Ordination | August 29, 1970 by John Bernard McDowell |
| Consecration | August 2, 1984 by Edward John Harper,James Aloysius Hickey, andEugene Antonio Marino |
| Created cardinal | March 24, 2006 byPope Benedict XVI |
| Rank | Cardinal-Priest |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Patrick O'Malley (1944-06-29)June 29, 1944 (age 81) Lakewood, Ohio, US |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Alma mater | Catholic University of America |
| Motto | Quodcumque dixerit facite ("Do whatever He says") |
| Styles of Seán Patrick O'Malley, OFM Cap | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Reference style | |
| Spoken style | Your Eminence[1][2] |
| Religious style | Cardinal |
| Informal style | Cardinal |
Ordination history of Seán Patrick O'Malley | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Seán Patrick O'MalleyOFM Cap (born June 29, 1944) is anAmerican Catholic prelate who served asArchbishop of Boston from 2003 to 2024 and president of thePontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors from 2014 to 2025. He is also a founding member of theCouncil of Cardinals, formed byPope Francis in 2013. A member of theOrder of Friars Minor Capuchin, he was made acardinal byPope Benedict XVI in 2006.
O'Malley was previouslyBishop of Palm Beach from 2002 to 2003,Bishop of Fall River from 1992 to 2002, andBishop of Saint Thomas from 1985 to 1992, after more than a year there as coadjutor.
Seán Patrick O'Malley was born as Patrick O'Malley on June 29, 1944, inLakewood, Ohio, the son of Theodore and Mary Louise (née Reidy) O'Malley. Both parents were of Irish descent. O'Malley, his sister, and his older brother grew up in theSouth Hills area south ofPittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and inReading, Pennsylvania. At age 12, he entered St. Fidelis High School Seminary inHerman, Pennsylvania, a boarding school for students who were considering joining theFranciscan order. While there, in addition to studying the normal high school subjects, he also studiedSpanish, Portuguese,Greek,German, andHebrew, while also being active intheatre.
After graduating from St. Fidelis, O'Malley attendedCapuchin College and theCatholic University of America (CUA), both in Washington, D.C. On July 14, 1965, at age 21, O'Malley professed his vows in theOrder of Friars Minor Capuchin and took the name Seán in honor ofJohn the Apostle. He took hisperpetual vows with the Capuchins in 1968.[3]
As asubdeacon in 1968, he spent several months ministering with the Capuchins in the mountainous area aroundUtuado, Puerto Rico.[4] After he was ordained adeacon, the Capuchins originally planned to send O'Malley to work in their missions onEaster Island,Chile; he even learned the local language,Rapa Nui, in preparation.[5] However, before he could leave, the Archbishop of Washington asked O'Malley's provincial superior to keep him in Washington to work with an influx of thousands of Central American refugees.[5]
O'Malley wasordained apriest for the Capuchins at St. Augustine Church in Pittsburgh on August 29, 1970, at age 26, by Auxiliary BishopJohn McDowell.[3] After his ordination, O'Malley graduated from CUA with amaster's degree in religious education and a Ph.D. inSpanish andPortuguese literature. He served as aprofessor at CUA from 1969 to 1973.
After finishing at CUA, the Capuchins asked O'Malley to minister toLatinos at the Spanish Catholic Center in Washington, D.C. He opened aSpanish bookstore there and foundedEl Pregonero, the first Spanish languagenewspaper in the area. O'Malley reports that he says his daily prayers in Spanish.[6]
In 1978, CardinalWilliam Baum appointed O'Malley asepiscopal vicar for thePortuguese, Hispanic, andHaitian communities in theArchdiocese of Washington. Baum also appointed him as executive director of the archdiocesan Office of Social Ministry.[6]
O'Malley later called his time in Washington an "uplifting experience and indeed a privilege and honeymoon of my priesthood”. He said that it led him to develop a lifelong commitment tosocial justice and the care of new immigrants.[7]
O'Malley was appointedcoadjutor bishop of Saint Thomas on June 2, 1984, byPope John Paul II.[8] He received hisepiscopal consecration on August 2, 1984, from BishopEdward Harper, with ArchbishopJames Hickey and BishopEugene Marino serving as co-consecrators. He was the first bishop of St. Thomas to be ordained on theIsland of St. Thomas.[9] O'Malley succeeded as bishop of Saint Thomas on October 16, 1985, when John Paul II accepted Harper's resignation.[3]
O'Malley describes the Diocese of St. Thomas as a missionary diocese when he arrived, with a total annual budget of only $30,000. One of his first endeavors was to establish a Catholic newspaper, TheCatholic Islander (now a triennial magazine),[10] and a television station to unify the diocese across the islands and make people more aware of what was happening in other parishes.[11]
In 1987, O'Malley established the Bethlehem House shelter for thehomeless on St. Thomas and soon after opened a similar shelter onSt. Croix.[12] He also established a home for people suffering fromHIV/AIDS.
O'Malley describedHurricane Hugo, which struck in 1989, as the biggest challenge of his tenure in the US Virgin Islands.[13] His residence was destroyed and the islands were without water, electricity, and phones for six months and without television for a year.[13]
After an appeal from O'Malley,Tom Monaghan, the founder ofDomino's Pizza, sent a plane-load of generators to St. Croix. This was the first plane to land on the island after Hurricane Hugo. With the generators, O'Malley was able to open the Catholic schools in tents almost immediately, while the public schools remained closed for nearly two years.[14]
O'Malley was named an honorarychaplain of theSovereign Military Order of Malta in 1991.
On June 16, 1992, John Paul II appointed O'Malley as bishop of Fall River.[3] He was installed on August 11, 1992. As bishop, O'Malley first attempted to settle thesexual abuse scandal in the Fall River diocese.
In 1998, John Paul II appointed O'Malley to the Special Assembly forOceania of theSynod of Bishops.[2]
On September 3, 2002, John Paul II appointed O'Malley as bishop of Palm Beach.[2] He was installed on October 19, 2002. O'Malley also tried to overcome the abuse scandal there. He also worked closely with the Portuguese-speaking and Hispanic population there.[15]
Known as a fixer in various Roman Catholic dioceses plagued by sexual abuse scandals, O'Malley was appointed by John Paul II as archbishop of Boston on July 1, 2003.[16] He succeeded CardinalBernard Law, who had resigned as archbishop as a consequence of thesexual abuse scandal in the archdiocese.
Pope Benedict XVI elevated O'Malley to the rank ofcardinal-priest in theconsistory of March 24, 2006. O'Malley was assigned the titular church ofSanta Maria della Vittoria in Rome.[3] In May 2007, Benedict XVI named O'Malley as a member of both theCongregation for the Clergy and theCongregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life in theRoman Curia. In late September 2009, he became a member of the Presidential Council of thePontifical Council for the Family.
In September 2006, O'Malley became the first cardinal to create a personalblog. In December 2006, he began offering a regularpodcast as well.[17] He viewed the podcasts as "yet another tool [he] can use to reach the young people in our Church who more and more are turning to the Internet for their information."[18]
In June 2010, after theRyan Report andMurphy Report on the abuses by theChurch in Ireland, O'Malley was named along with others to oversee theapostolic visitation of certain dioceses andseminaries inIreland. O'Malley was named as the visitor to theArchdiocese of Dublin and its suffragan dioceses ofFerns, Ossory,Kildare and Leighlin. He reported back to the Holy See on what steps the dioceses and seminaries had taken since the two reports were issued, and what else needed to happen.[19]
O'Malley participated in the2013 papal conclave, which electedPope Francis. During the conclave, O'Malley was consideredpapabile, a contender for election to the papacy.[20]
On April 13, 2013, O'Malley was appointed to a group of eight cardinals established by Francis a month after his election, to advise him and to study a plan for revising the Apostolic Constitution on the Roman Curia,Pastor bonus. The pope was already in contact with the members of this group.[21][22] O'Malley accompanied Francis on a papal visit toCuba on September 20, 2015.[23][24]
O'Malley praised the new tone of Francis' papacy. He stated, however, that those who expected doctrinal changes from Francis on sexual ethics like abortion,contraception, and same-sex marriage would be disappointed. He also indicated that Francis would not alter the ban on communion for Catholics who divorced, then remarried, and that O'Malley saw no theological justification for doing so.[25]
On March 22, 2014, Francis appointed O'Malley to thePontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors[26][27] and on December 17 of that year made him the commission's president.[28]
On January 14, 2017, Pope Francis named O'Malley a member of theDicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.[29][30] On October 15, 2020, the pope renewed O'Malley's term on the Council of Cardinal Advisers.[31]
O’Malley is the Grand Prior of the USA Northeastern Lieutenancy of theEquestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.[32]
In July 2019, the archdiocese announced that O'Malley had agreed to acceptPope Francis' request to remain as archbishop of Boston "for a few more years"; he had submitted his letter of resignation to the pope upon turning 75 years of age, per canon laws.[33][34] Archdiocese spokesperson Terry Donilon said that O'Malley was "really relieved" about the pope's decision and that "He loves being the archbishop of Boston and so we're pleased that that was settled right out of the box."[34] The archdiocese statement also said that
"The Cardinal is pleased to have the continued confidence of the Holy Father and looks forward to continuing to serve the people of God in Boston and in support of the Pope’s ministry in leading the universal church."[33]
In August 2024, as O'Malley approached his 80th birthday, Francis finally accepted O'Malley's resignation as archbishop of Boston. The pope appointed BishopRichard Henning from theDiocese of Providence as his successor.[35] O'Malley continued to administer the archdiocese asapostolic administrator until Henning's installation on October 31. At Pope Francis' request, he continued to serve as president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.[36] His tenure at that Commission concluded whenPope Leo XIV appointed his successor on July 5, 2025.[37]
In November 2007 interview with theBoston Globe, O'Malley said that theDemocratic Party had been persistently hostile toanti-abortion groups. He said the fact that many Catholic voters supported Democratic candidates "border[ed] on scandal."[38]
In a November 2008 interview with theBoston Globe, O'Malley said that he would not deny communion to Catholic politicians in his diocese who supported legalized abortion unless the Vatican formally excommunicated them.[39]
Despite criticism from conservative Catholics, including commentatorRaymond Arroyo ofEternal Word Television Network, of his participation in the funeral service for US SenatorTed Kennedy, a long-standing supporter of legalized abortion, O'Malley assisted at the funeral mass and led a prayer. He called for less contentious political dialogue: "We will not change hearts by turning away from people in their time of need and when they are experiencing grief and loss." He said he appreciated Kennedy's work forsocial justice, but that "there is a tragic sense of lost opportunity in his lack of support for the unborn".[40]
In 2009,Caritas Christi Health Care, which the Archdiocese of Boston owned, proposed contracting withCentene Corporation, a Missouri-based health insurer, to provide certain healthcare services, including abortion and pregnancy termination services, through a jointly owned venture named Celticare. The new director of Caritas,Ralph de la Torre, announced the project as part of an effort to relieve the hospital system's financial problems while extending services to low income and underserved populations.[41] In order for Caritas to participate in the Massachusetts state programCommonwealthCare, Caritas needed to provide access to mandated services, including some forbidden by Catholic teaching. Torre explained:
When a patient seeks such a procedure, Caritas healthcare professionals will be clear that (a) the hospital does not perform them and (b) the patient must turn to his or her insurer for further guidance. This, in fact, is the practice currently in place in the Caritas system as we work with other insurance companies under state laws that mandate access to procedures not provided within the Caritas system.[42]
O'Malley asked the National Catholic Bioethical Center inBroomall, Pennsylvania, to review the contractual relationship,[43] which theologians in a survey conducted byThe Boston Globe in March had unanimously supported on the grounds that Catholic hospitals would not participate directly in providing abortion and the arrangement would allow Caritas to deliver much-needed services to the poor.[44] The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts criticized the arrangement:
"With Caritas Christi now thoroughly embedded in the culture of death, we are now facing the end, in Massachusetts at least, of Catholic medical resistance to abortion and contraception. This tragic state of affairs is the personal responsibility of the Archbishop of Boston, Cardinal Sean O'Malley."[43]
In June 2009, Caritas Christi, at O'Malley's insistence, terminated its partial ownership of Celticare.[45][46] O'Malley said:[41]
Throughout this process, our singular goal has been to provide for the needs of the poor and under-served in a manner that is fully and completely in accord with Catholic moral teaching. By withdrawing from the joint venture and serving the poor as a provider ... upholding Catholic moral teaching at all times, they are able to carry forward the critical mission of Catholic health care.
Anti-abortion activist groups varied in their responses. Some praised O'Malley's decision, but others continued to object that Caritas, as a participant in CommonwealthCare, is still required, even as it refuses to provide abortions, to engage in abortion referrals.[47]
In August 2014, O'Malley expressed support for Christian facing persecution in Sudan. He also offered his prayers for Christians who being forced out of their homes inMosul in Iraq byIslamic State fighters who were occupying the city.[48]
O'Malley in March 2004 expressed his support for the Marriage Affirmation and Protection Amendment that was being proposed as a ballot member to reverse the recent legalization of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts.[49] The initiative was defeated.
Massachusetts has includedsexual orientation in its anti-discrimination statute since 1989,[50] and it legalized same-sex marriage beginning May 17, 2004.[51] Between about 1985 and 1995, Catholic Charities of Boston, which accepted state funds in support of its adoption services program, placed 13 children with same-sex couples out of 720 adoptions. Catholic Charities PresidentJ. Bryan Hehir explained the practice: "If we could design the system ourselves, we would not participate in adoptions to gay couples, but we can't. We have to balance various goods."[52]
In December 2005, the lay-dominated board of Catholic Charities of Boston voted unanimously to continue adoptions by same-sex couples. On March 10, 2006, after unsuccessfully seeking help from Massachusetts GovernorMitt Romney in obtaining an exemption from the state's anti-discrimination statute, O'Malley and leaders of Catholic Charities announced that the agency would terminate its adoption work effective June 30, rather than continue to place children under the guardianship of LGBT couples. He said "This is a difficult and sad day for Catholic Charities. We have been doing adoptions for more than 100 years."[53]
On October 1, 2009, O'Malley wrote a letter on behalf of the Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations of theUnited States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to theLeadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR). At that time, the LCWR was under investigation by theCongregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome. In his letter, O'Malley praised a traveling exhibition created by LCWR that documented the work ofreligious sisters in the United States. He wrote that;
"The Church is grateful for all that your communities have done and continue to do to advance the mission of the Church, especially in the areas of health care, education, social services, and pastoral ministry, as are highlighted in the exhibit".[54]
On the subject ofreparations to the descendants of enslave peoples in the United States, O'Malley suggested in March 2020, just beforeSt. Patrick's Day, that providing educational opportunities to these people might be an answer. He characterizedSt. Patrick as the firstabolitionist. In May 2021, duringAsian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, O'Malley condemned violence on Asian-Americans and racism in general,
Racism perpetuates a basic untruth that purports an innate superiority of one group over another because of skin color, culture, or ethnicity. This attitude contradicts the biblical understanding of God's action in creation, whereby all human beings are made in image and likeness of God. Racism denies the dignity of each human being, revealed in the mystery of the Incarnation, and blasphemes the redemptive act of Christ, who died on the cross to save all people.[55]
O'Malley, who replaced two previous bishops of Palm Beach that resigned after admitting to the molestation of children, instituted a system in which abuse allegations were referred to a social worker outside the church, and initiated azero tolerance policy againstsexual abuse, one of the first comprehensive sexual abuse policies in the Roman Catholic Church.[56]
On December 5, 2013, O'Malley announced a pontifically approved commission, thePontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, whose purpose is to prevent clerical sexual abuse and to help victims.[57] When the commission was established on March 22, 2014, O'Malley was named one of its first eight members.[58][59] He supported the 2015 filmSpotlight, which took an in-depth look at the wrongdoings of the Catholic Church in light of sexual abuse scandals.[60]
On May 5, 2023, three former students atArlington Catholic High School in Arlington, Massachusetts, filed a lawsuit inSuffolk Superior Court. The plaintiffs alleged that O'Malley and others in the archdiocese failed to protect them from a vice principal who sexually abused them.[61] The alleged abuse took place between 2011 and 2016.[62]
.jpg)
In June 2018, it was revealed that O'Malley never responded to a letter sent to him in June 2015 by ReverendBoniface Ramsey, a New York priest, concerning sex abuse committed by then CardinalTheodore McCarrick.[63][64] Despite being required to enforce a zero-tolerance policy with regards to reporting sex abuse, O'Malley said that the archdiocesan staff handled the letter and never forwarded it to him.[65]
Ramsey stated that he had reported the allegations against McCarrick to other Catholic officials before sending his letter to O'Malley.[63] During the time the letter was sent, McCarrick and O'Malley were both working with Cuban CardinalJaime Ortega to mendrelations between the United States and Cuba.[66][67] McCarrick also accepted O'Malley's invitation to appear at the archdiocese "Celebration of the Priesthood" fundraising dinner inSouth Boston in September 2015.[68][67]
On August 10, 2018, allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced atSt. John's Seminary in Boston.[69] On August 15, 2018, the archdiocese announced that O'Malley would not attend theWorld Meeting of Families in Dublin, Ireland in order to review these allegations.[70] In November 2019, a months-long independent inquiry, led by former U.S. AttorneyDonald K. Stern, confirmed there were specific instances of inappropriate conduct at the seminary, but no pervasive culture of excessive drinking or sexual activity.[71][72]
Knight commander of theOrder of Prince Henry, Portugal, 1985[citation needed]
Grand-Cross of theOrder of Prince Henry,Portugal (June 28, 2016)[73]{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)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.
| Catholic Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Roman Catholic Bishop of St Thomas 1985–1992 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Roman Catholic Bishop of Fall River 1992–2002 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Roman Catholic Bishop of Palm Beach 2002–2003 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Roman Catholic Archbishop of Boston 2003–2024 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by ? | Grand prior of the Northeastern Lieutenancy of theOrder of the Holy Sepulchre 2003–present | Incumbent |
| Preceded by | Cardinal-Priest ofSanta Maria della Vittoria 2006–present | |
Links to related articles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
