| Honorific-Prefix: | His Excellency, The Most Reverend |
| Richard Garth Henning | |
| Bishop of Providence Archbishop-elect of Boston | |
| Diocese: | Providence |
| Appointed: | November 23, 2022 |
| Enthroned: | May 1, 2023 |
| Ordination: | May 30, 1992 |
| Ordained By: | John R. McGann |
| Consecration: | July 24, 2018 |
| Consecrated By: | John Barres, William Murphy, and Robert J. Brennan |
| Birth Date: | 17 October 1964 |
| Birth Place: | Rockville Centre, New York, US |
| Alma Mater: | Saint John's University Seminary of the Immaculate Conception The Catholic University of America Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas |
| Motto: | Put out into the deep |
| Parents: | Richard and Maureen Henning |
| Richard Garth Henning | |
| Dipstyle: | |
Richard Garth Henning (born October 17, 1964) is an American prelate of the Catholic Church who has been appointed archbishop of the Archdiocese of Boston. He has been the bishop of Providence since May 2023, after a half year as coadjutor there. Henning previously served as an auxiliary bishop for the Diocese of Rockville Centre from 2018 to 2022.
His installation in Boston is scheduled for October 31.
Richard Henning was born on October 17, 1964, to Richard and Maureen Henning in Rockville Centre, New York, growing up at Holy Name of Mary Parish and grade school. His father was a firefighter and his mother was a nurse. Henning credits their examples of service with inspiring his own vocation.[1] He graduated from Chaminade High School in Mineola, New York in 1982.[2]
Henning was awarded a bachelor's degree in history in 1986 and a master's degree in history from St. John's University in New York City in 1988. After graduation, he entered the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Lloyd Harbor, New York, for priestly formation.[3]
On May 30, 1992, Henning was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Rockville Centre by Bishop John R. McGann at St. Agnes Cathedral in Rockville Centre.[4] He served in a parish in Port Washington for five years before being sent by his bishop for graduate studies in Sacred Scripture. Henning left New York in 1997 to study at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where he earned his S.T.L. in biblical theology in 2000. He then spent the next two years in Rome working towards an S.T.D. in biblical theology at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, which he completed in 2007.[5]
In 2002, he became a professor of Sacred Scripture at the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington, NY. He taught Sacred Scripture there until 2012. In 2012,[6] he became the rector of the seminary, overseeing its transition from a seminary to a retreat and conference center,[7] and the inaugural director of the Sacred Heart Institute for the Ongoing Formation of Clergy, serving in both positions until 2018.[8] He was appointed Vicar for Pastoral Planning in 2018 and Vicar for Clergy in the Diocese of Rockville Centre in 2021.[9]
Pope Francis appointed Henning as auxiliary bishop of Rockville Centre on June 8, 2018.[10] [11] Henning was consecrated by Bishop John Barres at St. Agnes Cathedral on July 24, 2018, with Bishops William Murphy, and Robert J. Brennan serving as co-consecrators.
On November 23, 2022, Francis appointed Henning as coadjutor bishop of Providence to assist Bishop Thomas J. Tobin. He was installed on January 26, 2023.[12] [13] Henning succeeded as bishop of Providence on May 1, 2023, when Tobin retired.[14]
Henning is fluent in Spanish and Italian and literate in French, Greek, and Hebrew.[15]
On August 5, 2024, Pope Francis named Henning to succeed Seán Patrick O'Malley as Archbishop of Boston.[16] He is scheduled to be installed on October 31, 2024.[17]