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In the early 1900s, Bishop Matthew Harkins (left) and Cardinal William H. O'Connell (right) vied to succeed Archbishop John J. Williams as Archbishop of Boston. Pilot photos/courtesy Archdiocesan Archives

From the Archdiocesan Archives

The bid to succeed Archbishop Williams

Friday, February 20, 2026Culture

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In his efforts, Cardinal O'Connell lobbied principally against Bishop Matthew Harkins of Providence, the leading candidate to succeed Archbishop Williams.

120 years ago, on Feb. 21, 1906, Bishop William H. O'Connell was named coadjutor bishop of Boston with the right to succeed Archbishop John J. Williams.
Behind the scenes, there had been a years-long struggle for who would succeed Archbishop Williams. In his scholarly work on Cardinal O'Connell, the historian James O'Toole has noted that the system for the selection of bishops in the early 1900s was one that could be easily influenced. "Ambitious prelates could lobby for advancement and succeed, because they only needed to persuade a handful of officials in Rome to secure the prize," he wrote in a 2003 Boston Globe article. "O'Connell recognized the possibilities of this system early on. He spent his five years (1901-1906) as bishop of Portland, Maine, actively campaigning for promotion to Boston, funneling large contributions to numerous Vatican causes, and loudly protesting that he was more loyal to the papacy than anyone else."
In his efforts, Cardinal O'Connell lobbied principally against Bishop Matthew Harkins of Providence, the leading candidate to succeed Archbishop Williams. A newly-processed collection of correspondence in the Archives of the Archdiocese of Boston gives new insight into the "Harkins side" of the faceoff.

Father James J. O'Brien was born in Charlestown in 1854, the eldest son of Hugh O'Brien, the first Irish Catholic mayor of Boston. Father O'Brien came to know Father Matthew Harkins during his first assignment as an assistant at St. Malachy in Arlington, where Harkins was the pastor. The pastor took a liking to his new assistant, who was both well-educated and politically connected. When Harkins was transferred to the prominent parish of St. James in Boston, he requested that Father O'Brien also be transferred, and Archbishop Williams assented.
When Harkins was appointed Bishop of Providence in 1887, he kept in touch with Father O'Brien. They frequently visited one another and vacationed together, and Father O'Brien wrote to Bishop Harkins often for advice. Bishop Harkins's letters to Father O'Brien contain one early glimpse of his opinion of William H. O'Connell. In a June 1901 letter written just after the installation of Bishop O'Connell as Bishop of Portland, Maine, Bishop Harkins sent Father O'Brien an enclosure that, he worried, "might be made a basis for a statement that Bp. O'Connell was my candidate -- but like many other statements made, it would not be true."
More than two years later, in September 1903, Archbishop John J. Williams submitted a formal request to the Propaganda Fide, requesting the appointment of a coadjutor, and Bishop O'Connell and Bishop Harkins would come into more direct conflict. The first order of business was the preparation of the "terna" -- a list of three candidates recommended to Rome for the selection of a bishop. The bishops and senior pastors of New England gathered in April 1904 to select the candidates. Bishop Harkins emerged from this meeting as the leading candidate. Bishop O'Connell did not make the list.
Fortunately for the Bishop of Portland, the cardinals of the Propaganda Fide delayed the Boston matter, deferring the decision for nearly two full years. Both the O'Connell and Harkins camps watched their movements anxiously.
In January 1905, one member of the Harkins camp, Father John Mullen (then assistant rector of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross), wrote to Father O'Brien about a cablegram he received from Rome. "I have merely mentioned to others the fact that nothing has been decided at Rome, and the contents of the dispatch will be sent to a few inside people only," he began. He went on to report that his source named four members of the Propaganda in favor of Bishop O'Connell, with the most active enemy of Bishop Harkins being Cardinal Francesco Satolli, the Apostolic Delegate to the United States. It was probable that a new "terna" would be requested before Bishop Harkins could hope to be nominated.
Father O'Brien forwarded the letter to Bishop Harkins, who replied on Jan. 17. "It would not be contrary to the spirit of the Baltimore decrees to have a new terna sent for. This would likewise serve as a 'dilatio' (delay)." The Bishop of Portland, whose candidacy was gaining support in the Propaganda, would doubtless be pleased with such a delay, which would give him time to win more allies in Rome.
Then, in March, Father O'Brien received a triumphant letter from a priest identified only by the initials "J.M.M." "There is now no room for any doubt. All we have to do is await the announcement of decision... But it is absolutely certain that it will be the right one." He closed the letter, "Destroy this immediately." Father O'Brien did not, and the Propaganda Fide did not take up the Boston coadjutorship discussion again until early 1906, selecting Bishop O'Connell as the name to present to Pope Pius X.
Father O'Brien's papers do not include any letters that provide insight into the reaction of the "Harkins camp" to the appointment. But a single sheet of notes in his hand survives -- a list of grievances and charges against Cardinal O'Connell. "The Japan mission a fake, probably gotten up by Cardinal Merry del Val," he wrote of Cardinal O'Connell's 1905 diplomatic mission to Japan on behalf of the pope. "Bp. O'C(onnell) insulted Bp. H(arkins) in his own house, and the V.G. (Vicar General) at (Bishop William) Stang's consecration." The note concludes with a list of the cardinal's alleged debts, including a substantial debt to the Diocese of Portland and to a college for the education of his nephew.
Despite his private hostility, Father O'Brien would serve under Cardinal O'Connell for almost two decades, the two working together effectively and even cordially, though they never developed a personal friendship. Cardinal O'Connell presided at the funeral Mass of Father O'Brien on Nov. 2, 1926.

VIOLET HURST IS AN ARCHIVIST FOR THE ARCHDIOCESE OF BOSTON.

- Violet Hurst is an archivist for the Archdiocese of Boston.