Richard Lennon
Encyclopedia
Richard Gerard Lennon is the Roman Catholic
bishop of Cleveland, Ohio
, since May 15, 2006.
, Lennon is the son of an Arlington, Mass. firefighter(Lennon's father, Albert, was Arlington's deputy fire chief
.) Lennon attended St. James the Apostle grammar school in St. James parish in Arlington, where he was an altar boy
. In 1965 Lennon graduated from Matignon
, a Catholic High School
in Cambridge
, Mass., where he was a member of the National Honor Society
. Bishop Lennon attended Boston College
where he was a mathematics major
for two years before entering St. John's Seminary
in Brighton, Massachusetts
where he graduated in 1969, with a bachelor's degree in philosophy. Lennon went on to receive a M.TH in Sacramental Theology in 1973 and a M.A. in Church History in 1984 both also from St. John's
.
Bishop Lennon was ordained in the Boston Archdiocese on May 19, 1973. Lennon was a parish priest from 1973 to 1988. From 1973 to 1982 Lennon served at St. Mary of the Nativity Church in Scituate, Massachusetts
and from 1982 to 1988 at St. Mary's Church in West Quincy, Massachusetts
. In 1988 he became the Archdiocese of Boston's archdiocesan assistant for canonical affairs. In 1999, he became the seminary rector.
In June 2001, Lennon was installed as a Knight of Malta and into the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre.
On June 29, 2001, Lennon was named as an auxiliary bishop
of Boston; he was ordained as a bishop on September 14, 2001. From 2001 until April 2006, Lennon served as a bishop in Boston, holding a variety of positions.
After Bernard Francis Law resigned his position as Archbishop
of Boston
in December 2002 amid the church sex scandal
, Lennon became very important in leading the troubled archdiocese through the turbulent times as he was the interim leader. He served as the Apostolic Administrator
of the archdiocese between Law's resignation and the accession of its new Archbishop, Sean O'Malley. Archbishop Seán O'Malley appointed him as the Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Boston and he held this position from August 2003 to April 2006. In Boston, Lennon acquired a reputation as a generally disagreeable person. On one particular documentary on Boston area church closings, which aired on PBS affiliates, Lennon was recorded as calling a Catholic individual "a little man" for questioning Lennon's refusal to allow him to photograph a church building scheduled to close.
On April 5, 2006, Lennon was appointed by the Holy Father
, His Holiness
Pope Benedict XVI
, as the replacement for Bishop Anthony Pilla
, who was suffering from heart disease, in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland
. He became the 10th bishop of Cleveland in an installation ceremony on May 15, 2006.
The Vatican has asked a retired New Jersey bishop, Bishop John M. Smith of Trenton, to visit the Diocese of Cleveland and assess the leadership of Bishop Lennon at the Bishop's own request because a number of people have written to Rome expressing their concerns with his leadership of the Diocese.
<>
There is some criticism of the Clusters of Parishes system that he has implemented. Example of this is Cleveland's Slavic Village are clusters of churches. List of Churches
In this cluster, Bishop Lennon has asked for 3-4 of these parishes to either merge or close.
Another Cluster (Garfield-Maple Hts)
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
bishop of Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
, since May 15, 2006.
Background
A native of Arlington, MassachusettsArlington, Massachusetts
Arlington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, six miles northwest of Boston. The population was 42,844 at the 2010 census.-History:...
, Lennon is the son of an Arlington, Mass. firefighter(Lennon's father, Albert, was Arlington's deputy fire chief
Fire chief
Fire Chief is a top executive rank or commanding officer in a fire department, either elected or appointed...
.) Lennon attended St. James the Apostle grammar school in St. James parish in Arlington, where he was an altar boy
Altar server
An altar server is a lay assistant to a member of the clergy during a Christian religious service. An altar server attends to supporting tasks at the altar such as fetching and carrying, ringing the altar bell and so on....
. In 1965 Lennon graduated from Matignon
Matignon High School
Matignon High School is a co-ed Catholic school in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston.-Campus:...
, a Catholic High School
Catholic school
Catholic schools are maintained parochial schools or education ministries of the Catholic Church. the Church operates the world's largest non-governmental school system...
in Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, Mass., where he was a member of the National Honor Society
National Honor Society
The National Honor Society is a recognition program for high school students in grades 10-12 in the United States and in several other countries...
. Bishop Lennon attended Boston College
Boston College
Boston College is a private Jesuit research university located in the village of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA. The main campus is bisected by the border between the cities of Boston and Newton. It has 9,200 full-time undergraduates and 4,000 graduate students. Its name reflects its early...
where he was a mathematics major
Mathematics education
In contemporary education, mathematics education is the practice of teaching and learning mathematics, along with the associated scholarly research....
for two years before entering St. John's Seminary
St. John's Seminary (Massachusetts)
Saint John's Seminary, located in the Brighton neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, is a Catholic major seminary sponsored by the Archdiocese of Boston....
in Brighton, Massachusetts
Brighton, Boston, Massachusetts
Brighton is a dissolved municipality and current neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, and is located in the northwest corner of the city. It is named after the town of Brighton in the English city of Brighton and Hove...
where he graduated in 1969, with a bachelor's degree in philosophy. Lennon went on to receive a M.TH in Sacramental Theology in 1973 and a M.A. in Church History in 1984 both also from St. John's
St. John's Seminary (Massachusetts)
Saint John's Seminary, located in the Brighton neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, is a Catholic major seminary sponsored by the Archdiocese of Boston....
.
Bishop Lennon was ordained in the Boston Archdiocese on May 19, 1973. Lennon was a parish priest from 1973 to 1988. From 1973 to 1982 Lennon served at St. Mary of the Nativity Church in Scituate, Massachusetts
Scituate, Massachusetts
Scituate is a seacoast town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States, on the South Shore, midway between Boston and Plymouth. The population was 18,133 at the 2010 census....
and from 1982 to 1988 at St. Mary's Church in West Quincy, Massachusetts
Quincy, Massachusetts
Quincy is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Its nicknames are "City of Presidents", "City of Legends", and "Birthplace of the American Dream". As a major part of Metropolitan Boston, Quincy is a member of Boston's Inner Core Committee for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council...
. In 1988 he became the Archdiocese of Boston's archdiocesan assistant for canonical affairs. In 1999, he became the seminary rector.
In June 2001, Lennon was installed as a Knight of Malta and into the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre.
On June 29, 2001, Lennon was named as an auxiliary bishop
Auxiliary bishop
An auxiliary bishop, in the Roman Catholic Church, is an additional bishop assigned to a diocese because the diocesan bishop is unable to perform his functions, the diocese is so extensive that it requires more than one bishop to administer, or the diocese is attached to a royal or imperial office...
of Boston; he was ordained as a bishop on September 14, 2001. From 2001 until April 2006, Lennon served as a bishop in Boston, holding a variety of positions.
After Bernard Francis Law resigned his position as Archbishop
Archbishop
An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...
of Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
in December 2002 amid the church sex scandal
Roman Catholic sex abuse cases
The Catholic sex abuse cases are a series of convictions, trials and ongoing investigations into allegations of sex crimes committed by Catholic priests and members of religious orders. These cases began receiving public attention beginning in the mid-1980s...
, Lennon became very important in leading the troubled archdiocese through the turbulent times as he was the interim leader. He served as the Apostolic Administrator
Apostolic Administrator
An apostolic administrator in the Roman Catholic Church is a prelate appointed by the Pope to serve as the ordinary for an apostolic administration...
of the archdiocese between Law's resignation and the accession of its new Archbishop, Sean O'Malley. Archbishop Seán O'Malley appointed him as the Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Boston and he held this position from August 2003 to April 2006. In Boston, Lennon acquired a reputation as a generally disagreeable person. On one particular documentary on Boston area church closings, which aired on PBS affiliates, Lennon was recorded as calling a Catholic individual "a little man" for questioning Lennon's refusal to allow him to photograph a church building scheduled to close.
On April 5, 2006, Lennon was appointed by the Holy Father
Holy Father
Holy Father may refer to:*God the Father, the title given to the god of many monotheistic religions*The Pope, the leader of the Catholic Church*The Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, the head of that church...
, His Holiness
His Holiness
His Holiness is the official style or manner of address in reference to the leaders of certain religious groups. In Christianity, specifically the Orthodox Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church, Armenian Orthodox Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and the Roman Catholic...
Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
, as the replacement for Bishop Anthony Pilla
Anthony Pilla
Anthony Michael Pilla is a bishop of the Catholic Church in the United States. He served as auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Cleveland from 1979 to 1980 and Bishop of Cleveland from 1980 to 2006.-Biography:...
, who was suffering from heart disease, in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland
Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland is a Roman Catholic diocese in Ohio. It was erected on April 23, 1847 by Pope Pius IX. The diocese lost territory in 1910 when the Diocese of Toledo was erected by Pope Pius X, and in 1943 when the Diocese of Youngstown was erected by Pope Pius XII...
. He became the 10th bishop of Cleveland in an installation ceremony on May 15, 2006.
The Vatican has asked a retired New Jersey bishop, Bishop John M. Smith of Trenton, to visit the Diocese of Cleveland and assess the leadership of Bishop Lennon at the Bishop's own request because a number of people have written to Rome expressing their concerns with his leadership of the Diocese.
<
Abuse scandal
Lennon's appointment as Apostolic Administrator of the Boston Archdiocese, following the resignation of Cardinal Law, brought criticism from some sex-abuse victims' groups.Parishes
In June 2008, Bishop Lennon announced plans to close at least 30 parishes in inner city Cleveland and older parishes in Cleveland's inner ring suburbs. This plan has drawn ire from members of Cleveland's City Council members. Michael Polensek of Ward 11 has sounded off on this plan. The Bishop is doing this in face of a priest shortage and loss of parishioners. Critics have pointed out that several of the churches to be closed actually enjoyed steady, if limited, monthly incomes, and several of these churches, as well, have a politically liberal orientation. However, many of these churches were also in need of repair, which was not always evident when looking at it from the outside.There is some criticism of the Clusters of Parishes system that he has implemented. Example of this is Cleveland's Slavic Village are clusters of churches. List of Churches
- St. John Nepomucene (1902)
- St. Stanislaus Shrine ChurchSt. Stanislaus Church (Cleveland, Ohio)St. Stanislaus Church was established in 1873 by Polish American immigrants from Poland. They established a church and school for the growing Pol-Am or Polish American Community of Cleveland. The Alliance of Poles on Broadway Avenue was allied with the St. Stanislaus Parish Community. As St....
(1873) - Sacred Heart Parish (1918)
- Immaculate Heart of Mary (1894)
- St. Hyacinth (1911)
- Our Lady of Lourdes (1893)
In this cluster, Bishop Lennon has asked for 3-4 of these parishes to either merge or close.
Another Cluster (Garfield-Maple Hts)
- Sts. Peter and Paul (1927)
- St. Therese (1927)
- St. Monica (1952)
- St. Martin of Tours (1960)
Additional sources
- Briggs, David. "New bishop: 'I am humbled'." The Plain Dealer April 5, 2006: A1, A11.
- Associated Press. "Richard Lennon." The Plain Dealer April 5, 2006: A1.
- http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dbost.html
- http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/handofgod/
- http://www.myfoxcleveland.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=2320109&version=3&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=3.1.1
- Cleveland Plain Dealer 6/5/2007
- Catholic Universe Bulletin