Cardinal Seán O’Malley, Pope Francis’ lead adviser on clergy sex abuse, retires as Archbishop of Boston

Cardinal Seán Patrick O’Malley is handing over the reins of the Archdiocese of Boston after more than 20 years serving as leader of the fourth largest Catholic district in the country.

He will be turning over leadership to Bishop Richard Henning of Providence, Rhode Island, during a ceremony today at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston.

At 80, O’Malley is five years beyond the average retirement age for a bishop. When he turned 75, he handed in his resignation papers to Pope Francis and called Terrence Donilon, spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Boston, to give him a heads up.

“I asked him, well, what did he say? And he told me that the Pope chuckled and said, ‘Well, we’ll keep you here for a couple more years,’” Donilon recalled. “It was a real blessing for him to be able to stay until he was 80. He’s been a very humble servant.”

O’Malley flew back from the Vatican on Wednesday.

Supporters describe him as compassionate, while critics say he did not do enough to protect survivors of clergy sex abuse.

O’Malley served as Pope Francis’ head adviser on the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, where he worked to fight clergy sexual abuse within the church. He was appointed by St. John Paul II in 2003, replacing then-Archbishop Cardinal Bernard Law, who resigned in disgrace following a massive clergy sexual abuse scandal that had exploded following an investigation by the Boston Globe’s Spotlight team.

Attorney Eric MacLeish told GBH News he first worked with O’Malley in 1992, when the lawyer represented victims of clergy abuse in the case of former Fall River priest James Porter. Porter was accused of molesting dozens of children and served time in prison for his crimes. MacLeish said O’Malley, who was serving in Fall River at the time, established new policies on clergy sexual abuse and settled more than 100 cases against Porter.

“He displayed compassion for the victims and he was willing to meet with clients, sometimes even without lawyers, and listen to them and talk to them,” MacLeish said. “Having dealt with cases all over the country, I thought that he was better than most religious leaders in understanding the ravages of childhood sexual abuse.”

At the height of the Boston clergy sex abuse scandal, MacLeish found himself working with O’Malley once again as he represented more than 300 victims.

“I would always like to see more being done, but in the constellation of the Catholic Church, as compared to other people, I think that [O’Malley] was somewhat progressive on sexual abuse issues,” MacLeish said. “His mission was to protect the church, and I think in fulfilling that mission, he recognized the need to be compassionate towards victims.”

Critics include Melanie Sakoda, the survivor support director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, who says O’Malley — and the greater archdiocese — still need to do more.

“What really needs to happen is they need to start removing these priests when they know they’re abusive,'' she said, ”and I’m not convinced that that’s what’s going to happen.”

Sakoda said O’Malley has “said a lot of the right things,” but systemic changes are needed. With the appointment of Henning, Sakoda said she fears it would be “more of the same,” in dealing with cases that are reported only to the church and not investigated as police matters.

“I’m not hopeful,” she said, “but if I’m proven wrong, that would be great.”

She said most survivors take years or even decades to come forward. “Which means the people who may have been abused during Cardinal O’Malley’s tenure may not come forward for another 40 years,” she said. “So we won’t really know the effectiveness of anything he’s done in his diocese for decades.”

O’Malley and other leaders of the clergy sexual abuse committee released the first annual report on policies and procedures around safeguarding against abuse on Tuesday. The report identified a need for “a streamlined process for discharge from office, to enable a smooth and simple pathway for the resignation or removal of a Church leader, when warranted.”

The report highlighted 31 cases received and transmitted to the Vatican’s office for religious discipline and doctrine between 2014 to the beginning of 2024. One case was handled by the office in five months, though most cases are processed within several years. This long turnaround time is of urgent concern to the Congregation,” the report reads.

Donilon, spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Boston, said it’s unknown if O’Malley will continue in his position leading the commission on clergy sexual abuse. He said O’Malley will split his time between Boston and Washington, D.C., as he “continues to be active and involved” with the immigrant community.

“He cares deeply about what’s going on down in Cuba and Haiti, and he’s been a big supporter of trying to bring peace to Haiti and opening up a greater relationship with Cuba,” he said. “He’ll be very busy, but now he’s earned the opportunity to take a deep breath.”