Rhode Island

Bishop who helped reenergize the Diocese of Providence will soon head to Boston • Rhode Island Current

Published

2 years ago

August 5, 2024

Bishop who helped reenergize the Diocese of Providence will soon head to Boston • Rhode Island Current

When the Most Rev. Richard Henning took over as bishop for the Diocese of Providence last year, many saw it as the start of a new era for the Catholic Church in Rhode Island. But now Henning is headed to Boston to become its next archbishop and try and replicate what he’s started in the Ocean State.

Henning, 59, will succeed Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley, who is a close ally of Pope Francis.

“When I arrived in Rhode Island, I spoke about my delight in the state motto and the fact that I would now live in a state of hope,” said Henning, who first came to Providence from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre, New York, as coadjutor bishop in 2022, in a statement Monday.

“Having now visited communities across Rhode Island, I say with great certainty that it is you, the people of this beautiful state — you are that hope! I will never cease to pray for you, and I hope for your prayers for me.“

O’Malley has led the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston since 2003.

Henning will be formally installed as Boston’s seventh archbishop on Oct. 31. Until then, he will continue to oversee church operations in Providence, said diocese spokesperson Michael Kieloch.

The appointment of Henning’s successor at the Providence Diocese is solely up to the pope. If a replacement is not named by Halloween, the diocese’s College of Consultors would select a temporary apostolic administrator, Kieloch said.

“In terms of timing and timeline, that’s completely unknown,” Kieloch said. “It’s the sole prerogative of the Holy Father.”

A church in decline

Henning took the reins of the Providence Diocese last May after the retirement of Bishop Thomas Tobin. Unlike his predecessor, who used social media to share his unapologetic stance opposing abortion and same-sex marriage, Henning did not have a personal social media account.

Bishop in final act before stepping down, deletes Twitter account

During his short tenure, the now Boston archbishop-elect laid the groundwork for a more forward-thinking church in Rhode Island, Providence College Associate Professor of Theology Jim Keating said in an interview.

“He’s very impressive, it doesn’t in any way surprise me to see that the people making these decisions were not going to pass on him simply because they have just assigned him to Providence,” Keating said.

A new bishop, Keating said, can either be a manager in decline or someone who instead tries to build off the positives of the past to build up the diocese in a more evangelical way — which involves more baptisms, weddings, confirmations, and participating in the life of their parish.

“And I got the immediate impression from Bishop Henning that he was the latter,” he said. “He wanted to take a very clear-eyed view of the actual situation of New England Catholicism, which is very dire.”

Throughout the 20th century, the Catholic Church was seen as a place for many of New England’s new immigrants to find community. But after the 1970s, Keating said the dominance of the church started to erode.

“Of course, the huge crack was the Geoghan case and Cardinal (Bernard) Law’s handling of that,” he said, referring to the sexual abuse scandal surrounding a defrocked retired Boston area priest that rocked the church in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Pew Research reported in April that 20% of U.S. adults describe themselves as Catholics — down 4% from 2007. A declining population means less political swing.

“It used to be that the cardinal or archbishop would signal their opposition and legislation would die,” Keating said about Boston politics. “No one thinks about Massachusetts that way any longer.”

Still some political muscle to flex

Tobin’s hardline stances often generated outrage from liberal and left-leaning groups.

Archbishop-Elect Richard G. Henning, right, speaks at a joint press conference with Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley, left, held Aug. 5, 2024, at the Archdiocese of Boston’s Pastoral Center to announce Henning’s appointment as the next Archbishop of Boston.
(Photo by Gregory L. Tracy/The Pilot)

“And he would almost always dial it back,” Keating said. “Which then raised the question: Why did you say something in the first place? Or why don’t you think before you talk?”

Henning, meanwhile, tries to stay out of politics — which he made clear when he spoke before reporters at a press conference Monday morning at the Pastoral Center in Braintree, Massachusetts.

“I will admit, I don’t know that I’ve ever been an activist — I’m not that exciting,” Henning said. “My stance in Providence has been that I’m a pastor, not a politician.”

He told reporters the Catholic Church does advocate for policy positions related to church teachings. Henning did weigh in on a few issues during the Rhode Island General Assembly 2024 legislative session, joining fellow faith leaders in supporting legislation mandating the safe storage of firearms and a failed push to ban assault weapons.

But Keating said the decision to support gun control was simply the church “swimming with the stream” on what has become a more popular stance.

“When it comes to abortion or the more hot stuff, it’s harder to see,” he said of vocal stances by church leaders.

During Monday’s press conference, Henning described himself as pro-life, but said he believes “every woman should have a full choice.”

“What I want to do is to help the Catholics, the faithful of this archdiocese form their consciences,” he said. “I certainly have opinions — I will vote as an American citizen. I will never tell you for whom I vote — I don’t belong to a party — that’s not my job to advocate for either side.”

I will admit, I don’t know that I’ve ever been an activist — I’m not that exciting. My stance in Providence has been that I’m a pastor, not a politician.

– Archbishop-Elect of Boston Richard Henning

If the Catholic Church wants to regain its influence, Keating said it needs to increase the number of parishioners who both know church teachings and can think about their political action.

That doesn’t happen unless the diocese can attract new members. Historically, Keaing said New England Catholicism has mostly relied on faith being part of a tradition passed from generation to generation. That might have worked in the 20th century, but over time, the region has become much more secular.

“The church can no longer rely on inherited faith, it has to have intentional faith and personal faith,” Keating said. “How do you do that? You have something attractive to offer.”

If anyone can accomplish that feat, Keating said, it’s Henning.

“He’s been meeting with people, talking, connecting with big players and trying to figure out what the diocese’s strengths and weaknesses were,” Keating said of Henning’s tenure in Rhode Island. “He’s energized things.”

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Rhode Island

Moses Brown showed up late, but it was still ready to win a title.

Published

1 minute ago

June 7, 2026

Press Room

Moses Brown showed up late, but it was still ready to win a title.

PROVIDENCE – They made the short walk from campus, crossing the threshold at Brown University with 17 minutes to go until the RIIL Girls State Championship game was set to begin.

Moses Brown wasn’t running late. The Quakers were ready – and then they went out and proved it.

The Quakers didn’t just win Sunday’s state title matchup with East Greenwich. They put on a display of utter dominance, winning every facet of the game in extraordinary fashion. MB put up eight goals in the first quarter, triggered a running clock before halftime and rolled to a 20-4 win over the Avengers, winning the program’s fourth straight state crown.

“It feels amazing. We’ve worked for this all season,” Moses Brown’s Avery Butler said. “We’ve had our ups and our downs and it’s great to know all our hard work paid off.”

“It definitely feels great and feels like all our hard work, all year all 365 days of this year really paid off,” Moses Brown’s Goose Brousseau said. “We really did it all together.”

East Greenwich’s afternoon didn’t get off to a good start – Brown University failed to unlock the entrance gate, forcing the Avengers to take a lap around the stadium to get in – and quickly found out what happens when Moses Brown does.

The Quakers owned the draw circle with Jane Belsito, Samantha Mocco and Sophia Mocco winning all but one in the first quarter. When MB had the ball, it did something with it. Butler did most of the damage in the opening 12 minutes, scoring four goals, but it wasn’t by design.

“If I’m taking it or [the Moccos) are taking it, we’re all together,” Belsito said. “If I have them on the circle and I mess up, they have my back. They just calm me down.”

“It’s just what happens. Everyone in our offense is so good, we all take turns having our own moment. It can be anyone at any time and my teammates did a great job finding me and we just worked so well together.”

With the ball on Moses Brown sticks for the large majority of the game, any chance at an East Greenwich comeback was null and void. The Avengers had the best offensive player on the field in Tessa Charello-Ingegneri, but she couldn’t put her skills to use because MB never let it happen.

In the second quarter, the Mocco sisters – Sophia Mocco and Sam Mocco – popped goals 33 seconds apart and Butler’s fifth of the day made it 11-2. With 3:46 left before halftime,Lola Baill scored to bring the running clock into play and Butler added her sixth to make it 13-2 at halftime.

Moses Brown coach Brian Williams didn’t need to make many adjustments for the second half and his players knew exactly what to do over the final two quarters.

“We like to play our best every game, but today was really special,” Butler said. “We spent a lot of time preparing. Every practice we were really focused and we had a lot of time to do film and think about what we can do best.

“Today really meant a lot for us that it all worked out well.”

It was a tough end to an incredible season for East Greenwich. The lacrosse community is strong within the town and an annual trip to Brown should be a part of the Avengers’ expectations. They’ll return a strong core of young players – including All-Stater Charello-Ingegneri – and Sunday’s loss should serve as an education experience in what work will need to be done if they want to win a title.

“I’m just happy we got to be here and play our game,” Charello-Ingegneri said. “We knew it was going to be a challenge but I’m happy with our team and all of our success this season. We’re going to come back even stronger next year and this is a learning opportunity for us and we’ll do everything we can do take it next year.

For Moses Brown, it’s the end of an era for a core group of seniors who started as freshmen following a season where the team didn’t win a crown – a 10-8 loss to Barrington in 2022 – and did nothing but win throughout their careers.

The Quakers didn’t do it on just talent. They did it with the things people don’t see.

Like going through a full warmup on your home field prior to the biggest game of the season.

“We have our rituals that we do before we come and that walk from MB to Brown, we are just so centered with ourselves,” Butler said. “When come we do our normal warmup and we feel all right.

“It’s just about channeling nerves and if we warm up calm and relaxed, we don’t have things to worry about in the games. We know who we are.”

“Every single person is doing something for the person next to them,” Brousseau said. “Getting to warm up on our home field and do everything together and really feel at home with everyone was just really important to us.

We came over late because we were just together for longer and that was important to us.”

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Rhode Island

How did La Salle win another state title? Having an ace up its sleeve.

Published

10 hours ago

June 7, 2026

Press Room

How did La Salle win another state title? Having an ace up its sleeve.

PROVIDENCE – The result was so obvious, everyone should have seen it coming.

That’s because Hailey Vigneau doesn’t lose big games.

The La Salle softball team might have been hammered by Chariho during their regular season matchups, but none of that mattered in the postseason. The state’s seen plenty of big-time pitchers, but none that have won like Vigneau. Saturday’s championship game against Chariho only added to her legacy, as she took care of things in the circle, Nikki Pallotta led the offense and the 5-2 win gave the Rams their fourth straight state title.

“We just know how hard we work,” Vigneau said. “We know we have each other. We know how supportive of each other we are. We just know that our team, in the end, will come out on top.”

Softball pitchers are supposed to strike fear with fastballs and sit batters down faster than they can get up to plate. You won’t find many teams that say they’re afraid of Vigneau, but you also won’t find any teams that have beaten her in a game that matters most.

The La Salle senior – who will pitch at Marist next spring – didn’t look bothered by the magnitude of the game she was pitching. If Chariho beat the Rams – which it had done twice this season – that meant an if-game where momentum would be on the Chargers side.

It seemed like a possibility, provided you ignored the fact that Vigneau has never lost a playoff game and wasn’t about to start in her senior season.

Vigneau made one mistake pitch that Adriana Jeannenot hit to outer space, a two-run blast that tied the game in the top of the fourth inning. She took the ball from the umpire, then retired the next batter to end the inning and get her offense on the field.

“I just have to focus on the next one. I can’t dwell on it,” said Vigneau, who gave up four hits and walked two while striking out eight. “Now I can reflect on it, fix what I know I messed up on.

“I didn’t even look. I didn’t turn my head.”

The bats went out and supported their ace. Pallotta had the go-ahead hit, a two-run double that scored Izzy Dong and Samantha Sell. While Pallotta and the Rams struggled to hit Jeannenot in clutch moments in the regular season, it was clear they figured something out.

“Their pitcher is really good and she shut us down in the first game,” said Pallotta, who went 3-for-4 with two RBI and three runs Saturday. “In the second game we started to pick up some hits, we started to learn a lot.

“We were lucky enough to play them twice, we got a lot of data off of that and so when we came into RIC … we had a lot of information and we used it.”

Armed with a 5-2 lead, Vigneau took care of things. The home run was a distant memory and when Alaina Valuk led off the fifth with a single, Vigneau barely noticed. She was in control and remained calm, right up until the final out was recorded, ending her career with a fourth straight title celebration.

“I just pitch one pitch at a time, no matter what the situation is in the game,” Vigneau said. “I can’t focus too much on the big win ahead, just one pitch at a time.”

Chariho was emotional after the loss and why wouldn’t it be? The Chargers entered the season with so much promise, finally got over the hump of beating La Salle and then did it twice in this spring.

But the two playoff losses – Saturday as well as the winners’ bracket final – showed that Chariho still has some work to do to in order to get that title the program wants. The loss will only help inspire the Chargers to keep chasing it next season.

“We had a phenomenal season. I’ve never been more proud of this team,” Jeannenot said. “… It definitely pushes us to go for even bigger things. This year our main thing was to beat La Salle, now I feel like we can have even bigger goals and we can have more success.”

This was supposed to be the year La Salle lost. The Rams graduated all that offensive talent, there’s no way they can overpower teams anymore.

Turns out La Salle didn’t need to. It had a secret weapon who shouldn’t have been so secret and closes her career as the most clutch pitcher Rhode Island has ever seen.

“Without her we probably wouldn’t be here at all,” Pallotta said. “She’s been the ace for the last four years and she always comes up when we need her and she shuts them down.”

“I just enjoyed my time with the girls. Whatever happens, happens, but we just work hard and have fun,” Vigneau said. “I couldn’t have imagined this whatsoever.”

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