Robert Francis Hennessey

Robert Francis Hennessey (born April 20, 1952) is an American Catholic prelate who has served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Boston in Massachusetts since 2006.

Biography Robert Hennessey was born on April 20, 1952, in South Boston, Massachusetts, to John and Eileen (née Cahill) Hennessey. His father was an officer with the Boston Police Department. The second of five children, Robert Hennessey has two brothers, John and Daniel, and two sisters, Deborah and Barbara.

Priesthood Hennessey was ordained to the priesthood by Cardinal Humberto Medeiros at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston on May 20, 1978 for the Archdiocese of Boston.

After his ordination, the archdiocese assigned Hennessey as parochial vicar at St. Joseph Parish in Hanson, Massachusetts. Hennessey's next assignment was as parochial vicar at St. Peter Parish in Plymouth, Massachusetts. In 1983, he was assigned to St. Joseph Parish in Needham, Massachusetts, staying there for three years. Hennessey then entered a graduate studies program at the Moreau Seminary at the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana.

Hennessey first held the post of episcopal vicar for the Central Pastoral Region of the archdiocese, but was transferred in January 2014 to the Merrimack Region.

In the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Hennessey has served as a member of the Subcommittee on the Catholic Campaign for Human Development. As of 2025, Hennessey is the vicar general regional bishop for the Merrimack Region.