Cardinal Sean O’Malley, a close ally of Pope Francis, steps down as archbishop of Boston

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis on Monday agreed to the resignation of Cardinal Sean O’Malley as archbishop of Boston and appointed the current bishop of Providence, Rhode Island, Richard Henning, to take over as leader of one of the most significant Catholic archdioceses in the United States.

The statement from the Vatican did not mention O’Malley’s additional key role as Francis’ primary adviser on combating clergy sexual abuse as head of the pope’s Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, indicating he would continue in that role until a new commission leader is designated.

St. John Paul II had chosen O’Malley to assume control in Boston in 2003 during the peak of the clergy sexual abuse scandal that had erupted there following an investigation by the Boston Globe newspaper. Exposures of decades of abuse and concealment by the church resulted in the downfall of then-archbishop Cardinal Bernard Law, who stepped down in disgrace in December 2002.

At 80 years old, O’Malley is five years past the typical retirement age for bishops. His 59-year-old successor, Henning, from Rockville Centre, Long Island, has served as bishop of Providence since last year.

Francis has consistently shown his respect for O’Malley and handpicked him as a founding member of his fundamental cardinal advisers, referred to as the C9.

In that capacity O’Malley, a Franciscan friar, counseled Francis not only on child protection matters, but also contributed to the restructuring of the Vatican bureaucracy.

O’Malley’s interactions with Francis have not always been smooth. In 2018, he released a scathing statement criticizing Francis after the pope disregarded allegations of abuse by Chilean survivors of the nation’s most notorious offender.

O’Malley’s strong language served as a wake-up call for Francis, who ultimately apologized after initiating an investigation into the Chilean scandal.

More recently, O’Malley’s commission identified “significant issues” in the way the Vatican had managed the case of a former Jesuit artist, the Rev. Marko Rupnik, prompting Francis to demand the case be revisited.