Biography of Archbishop-elect Henning

Archbishop-elect Richard G. Henning, S.T.D. was born in Rockville Centre, New York in 1964 to Richard and Maureen Henning, the first of five siblings.  He grew up in Valley Stream receiving the sacraments of Baptism, first Holy Communion, and Confirmation at Holy Name of Mary Parish, where he also attended the parish grammar school.  In the summers, Archbishop-elect Henning spent a good deal of time on a small island in the Great South Bay where his family has gone for generations.  There, he developed a lifelong passion for the water, sailing, boating, and kayaking on the bay.

Archbishop-elect Henning attended Chaminade High School in Mineola, New York and counts the Marianists as a major influence in his faith life and commitment to learning.  He received a BA and MA in History from St. John’s University, Queens New York and received his training for the priesthood at the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington New York.  He was ordained in 1992 and served for five years as an associate pastor at the Church of St. Peter of Alcantara, Port Washington.  In that assignment, he did extensive pastoral work in the large parish school and ministered to the Spanish-speaking Catholics of that peninsula.  In addition to fluency in English and Spanish, Archbishop-elect Henning speaks Italian and is able to read French, Greek and Hebrew.  

In 1997, Bishop McGann assigned then Father Henning to post-graduate studies in Sacred Scripture.  He earned a Licentiate in Biblical Theology at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. and a Doctorate in the same from the University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome, Italy.

After his studies, Archbishop-elect Henning joined the faculty of the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington, where he taught scripture for more than ten years.  In 2012, as part of the partnership for seminary formation among the Dioceses of Rockville Centre, Brooklyn, and the Archdiocese of New York, then Rev. Msgr. Henning was appointed to lead the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception through its transition to the largest retreat house in the Northeast.  The Ordinaries of Rockville Centre, Brooklyn and New York also charged him to establish and lead the Sacred Heart Institute for the ongoing formation of Catholic priests and deacons.  Bishop Henning is also noted for his work with international priests serving in the U.S. 

In 2018, Pope Francis appointed Archbishop-elect Henning as an auxiliary bishop in the Diocese of Rockville Centre, where he served as a regional Vicar and later as the Vicar for Clergy and Pastoral Planning. 

In November 2022, the Holy Father appointed Archbishop-elect Henning as the Coadjutor Bishop of Providence. He succeeded Bishop Tobin as the Bishop of Providence on May 1, 2023.
On Monday, August 5, 2024, Archbishop-elect Henning was appointed the tenth bishop and seventh archbishop of the Archdiocese of Boston.

Archbishop-elect Henning has been active in the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, serving on the Doctrine Committee, the Subcommittee for the Church in Latin America, and as the Chair of the Subcommittee for the Translation of the Sacred Scriptures.  He serves on several boards, including those of Providence College and the Pontifical College Josephinum.