Monsignor Thomas J. Harrington

About Msgr. Harrington: A proud son of New Bedford, Msgr. Harrington graduated from the former Holy Family High School in that city. He received a bachelor’s degree from Holy Cross College in Worcester, and prepared for the priesthood at The Catholic University in Washington, D.C. where he returned in 1967 for graduate studies in Canon law. He was a parochial vicar at St. Francis Xavier Parish, Hyannis, and Immaculate Conception Parish in Fall River before being named vice chancellor and secretary to Bishop James L. Connolly. In 1971, Bishop Daniel A. Cronin appointed him chancellor of the diocese while also resident chaplain at the former Rose Hawthorne Home in Fall River. In 1974, Pope Paul VI designated him a papal chamberlain with the rank of monsignor, and in 1978 he was appointed rector of St. Mary’s Cathedral while remaining chancellor. In 1983, he was named vicar for finance and administration. He went back to The Catholic University in Washington in 1986 for a year of sabbatical studies and returned to the diocese to become pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Taunton for eight years. In 1995, he was appointed pastor of Holy Name Parish in New Bedford from which he retired in 2004. Pope John Paul II named him a Prelate of Honor of His Holiness in 1999. Through the years, Mgsr. Harrington held a number of other diocesan responsibilities. He was secretary of Spiritual Development/Apostolates; director of the annual Catholic Charities Appeal; spiritual director of the area St. Vincent de Paul Society; dean of the Taunton Deanery; and chaplain to fire departments in Hyannis, Taunton, and New Bedford. In retirement, he continues to minister as a fire chaplain to the members of the Fall River Fire Department.