Thomas Aloysius Boland

Thomas Aloysius Boland (February 17, 1896 – March 16, 1979) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Newark in New Jersey from 1952 to 1974. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the same diocese from 1940 to 1947 and bishop of the Diocese of Paterson in New Jersey from 1947 to 1952.

Biography

Early life Thomas Boland was born on February 17, 1896, in Orange, New Jersey, to John Peter and Ellen Agnes (née O'Rourke) Boland. He received his early education at the St. John's School, the parish school of St. John the Evangelist Parish in Orange He then attended St. Francis Xavier High School in New York City.

In 1915, Boland enrolled at Seton Hall College in South Orange, New Jersey. He then began his studies for the priesthood at the Pontifical North American College in Rome. Following his return to New Jersey, the archdiocese assigned Walsh as s a curate at St. Catherine's Parish in Hillside. He also served as director of the Newark branch of the National Organization for Decent Literature, and as promoter of the archdiocesan synod held in 1941. On October 19, 1954, he formally dedicated the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Newark. At the same ceremony, he received the pallium, a vestment worn by metropolitan bishops, from Archbishop Amleto Cicognani, the apostolic delegate to the United States. Paramus Catholic High School in Paramus, New opened during the same time period

Between 1962 and 1965, Boland attended all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council in Rome, where he was elected to head the Bishops' Study Committee. He was also a member of the Catholic Mission Board of the United States, chair of the Episcopal Committee, and liaison between women religious and the American Catholic bishops. Along with these accusations of racism, the group of priests presented a list of demands, which called for the formation of an advisory committee of priests for inner-city affairs, an improved method of screening priests in African American areas, and the transfer of some pastors who have "not proven a predisposition for justice by their performance." He declared, "No one can truthfully say I have not made every effort to bring to reality those plans which I have felt could be of advantage, whether for spiritual or temporal goals, of the disadvantaged in our midst.

Retirement and legacy Boland's resignation as archbishop of Newark was accepted by Pope Paul VI on April 2, 1974. Thomas Boland died at St. Mary's Hospital in Orange on March 16, 1979, at age 83. He was buried in the crypt of the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart.