New Auxiliary Bishops for Boston
BRIGHTON, MA - Pope Benedict XVI has informed Cardinal Seán O'Malley that Reverend John A. Dooher, Pastor of St. Mary Parish in Dedham and Reverend Robert Hennessey, Pastor of Most Holy Redeemer in East Boston, have been named Auxiliary Bishops for the Archdiocese of Boston.
Cardinal Seán received this news with gratitude for the Holy Father's pastoral care of the Archdiocese and has announced that bishop-elect Dooher will be assigned to the South region and bishop-elect Hennessey will be assigned to the Central region of the Archdiocese.
Pope Benedict XVI has also granted Bishop John Boles' request for retirement - Bishop Boles currently serves as the Auxiliary for the Central region.
The Ordination of the two new Auxiliary Bishops will take place on December 12, 2006 at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston; details will be forthcoming. Bishops-elect Dooher and Hennessey will also continue in their current roles at their parishes until replacements are appointed.
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His soon-to-be Excellency John Dooher was my boss at St. Mary's in Dedham back around 1996 to 1998. He came in a few weeks after a temporary administrator hired me as music director. We had a healthy respect for each other (he even concelebrated at my wedding), but I don't think he liked my choices of music. I remember him saying something like, "Michael, you're just not hearing me, are you..." and submitting to me a list of 50 or so hymns he'd like to hear at Mass. (Flow River Flow, Only This I Want, and dozens more of the hardcore SLJ stuff.) He used to be one of the famed guitar-brandishing "singing priests" of the '70s, and he still longed for those glory (and praise) days of his youth, no doubt. Anyhow, the salary was so low, and the uphill battle for good music so exhausting, that I left soon after my wedding. (As an aside, I was the second of four male organists in a row to be married during my tenure in Dedham. Before that, I didn't even realize there were four straight organists in Massachusetts!) So, congratulations to John Dooher. He's a good man. I'm sure he's on the fast track for some small diocese like Ogdensburg NY or Lafayette IN where the cathedral will be ringing with the sounds of strums, drums, and hums. For now, I'm happy he will be serving us here in Boston -- we could've (and have) done much worse!
(Oh, by the way, thanks to Jeff for introducing me to your Missal Defense game. I played for hours!)