O’Malley had to tackle a litany of woes that confronted the archdiocese back then: parishioners angry and bolting over the abuse crisis, the church’s coffers in “economic free-fall,” money-losing hospitals, failing pension funds, a rapidly emptying seminary, and 1,000 lawsuits against the diocese.

“When I got here I found out that things were worse than I had feared,” he said. “Things were just in very, very bad shape.”

Pictured: O'Malley celebrated Mass at noon in the Bethany Chapel at the Pastoral Center in Braintree in 2012.