Archbishop celebrates farewell Mass in Providence before move to Boston

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — The Diocese of Providence offered a farewell Mass for Archbishop Richard Henning Thursday, as he prepared for his move up to Boston to take on the role that accompanies his new title.

Henning said it was a day of mixed emotions as he celebrated the Mass.

“It has been an extraordinary couple of years here in Rhode Island,” he said. “I’ve felt a very strong bond with the people here so it’s a happy thing to be with them here tonight, and sad all at the same time.”

Henning was named the next archbishop of the Archdiocese of Boston in August, replacing Cardinal Sean O’Malley.

“It’s a little like attending your own wake, but it’s just good to be loved and to know that and to feel that,” he said. “People have been exceedingly kind.”

Henning served as the principal celebrant and homilist, and he told parishioners he would hold dear the memories he made in Rhode Island.

“I started on my first day here talking about the state of hope, and that’s kind of what I’ve found here,” he said. “That’s our state motto, and in the people here I’ve just found extraordinary welcome, great generosity, a deep and abiding faith.”

Henning added that he’s ready for a new series of challenges that come with a focal role in Boston.

“It’s certainly an exciting challenge, I will not be bored,” he said. “It’s a very large Archdiocese, but I’m going to take the lessons I’ve learned here in Rhode Island with me and I hope that will help me to be a good archbishop for them as well.”