PROSPECT HEIGHTS — On Aug. 5, 2024, Pope Francis appointed then-Bishop Richard Henning of Providence to succeed Cardinal Seán O’Malley in the Archdiocese of Boston — one of the most prominent sees in the United States.
Since, Pope Francis has appointed new leaders of seven other archdioceses in the United States, leaving his mark on some of the most consequential leadership positions in the American Church.
The appointments are: April 8: Bishop Shawn McKnight is appointed to succeed Archbishop Joseph Naumann in the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas. March 31: Bishop Michael McGovern is appointed to succeed Archbishop George Lucas in the Archdiocese of Omaha, Nebraska. Feb. 12: Bishop Robert Casey is appointed to succeed Archbishop Dennis Schnurrin the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.
Feb. 11: Bishop Edward Weisenburger is appointed to succeed Archbishop Allen Vigneron in the Archdiocese of Detroit. Jan. 20: Bishop Joe Vásquez is appointed to succeed Cardinal Daniel DiNardo in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. Jan. 6: Cardinal Robert McElroy is appointed to succeed Cardinal Wilton Gregory in the Archdiocese of Washington.
Nov. 4, 2024: Bishop Jeffrey Grob is appointed to succeed Archbishop Jerome Listecki in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. Over that same span, Pope Francis has named new bishops to lead the Dioceses of Tyler, Texas; Sioux City, Iowa; Norwich, Connecticut; Camden, New Jersey; and Providence, Rhode Island, as well.That’s a total of 13 episcopal appointments to lead American dioceses in about nine months.
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In a vacuum, the prominence of many of those sees is more significant than the number of appointments itself. However, from a big picture perspective, after this latest series of appointments, it’s undeniable that the current iteration of the American episcopacy is one shaped by Pope Francis.
As of April 11, Pope Francis has appointed the bishop of 123 of the 146 Latin Catholic dioceses in the United States, including 20 of the 34 Latin Catholic archdioceses. Further, of the four cardinals currently leading U.S. archdioceses — Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago, Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, Cardinal Robert McElroy of Washington, and Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark — Cardinal Dolan is the only one that wasn’t made a cardinal by Pope Francis.
So, while Pope Francis’ appointments of the last nine months have — justifiably so — grabbed headlines for the importance of the positions he’s filled, they really are just building off of what the Holy Father has done over the course of his 12 year pontificate. And considering seven other archdioceses — Mobile, Alabama; Denver; Miami; Chicago; New Orleans; Santa Fe, New Mexico; and New York — are led by bishops who are 74 or older, Pope Francis willlikely make more significant changes to the American episcopate this year.