2019 marked the 75th anniversary of Richard Cardinal Cushing’s ascension to Archbishop of Boston and 2020 marks the 50th anniversary of his death. Cushing was a man of greatness – he advocated for inter-religious dialogue among denominations and faiths, he ministered to the masses to make the Roman Catholic Church more accessible for the everyday laity, and reached out to new constituents, including veterans, the mentally ill, and the developmentally disabled.

During his time as Archbishop, Cushing built over 75 chapels and religious spaces of worship, at places such as Our Lady of the Airways (Boston’s Logan Airport), Our Lady of Good Voyage (in Boston’s Seaport District), and Our Lady of the Holy Innocents (the Fernald State School in Waltham).

Much of my graduate thesis focuses on the building projects of Richard Cardinal Cushing and crosses with my expertise in mental hospitals and state schools for the disabled. To learn more about one of the chapels that Cardinal Cushing commissioned, the Chapel of the Holy Innocents, you can read my article published in The Boston Pilot here.