Pope Francis Names New Auxiliary Bishop of Boston

WASHINGTON - Pope Francis has named Rev. Cristiano G. Borro Barbosa, a priest of the Archdiocese of Boston, and current secretary for evangelization and discipleship, and episcopal vicar for the central region of the archdiocese, as the new auxiliary bishop of Boston. The appointment was publicized in Washington, D.C. on December 9, 2023, by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

The following biographical information for Bishop-elect Barbosa was drawn from preliminary materials provided to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops:

Father Barbosa was born October 11, 1976, in Adamantina, Brazil. He received a licentiate of philosophy from the Universidade do Sagrado Coração at Bauru in Sao Paolo, Brazil (2004), a master’s degree in psychology from Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais at Belo Horizante, in Minas Gerais, Brazil, a licentiate in Sacred Theology (2011) and doctorate in sacred theology (2019) from Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. He was ordained to the priesthood in Brazil on December 22, 2007; Father Barbosa was incardinated to the Archdiocese of Boston in 2021.

Bishop-elect Barbosa’s pastoral assignments in the Archdiocese of Boston include: chaplain to the Brazilian-Portuguese Community (2008-2019); parochial vicar at Saint Anthony of Padua and Saint Francis of Assisi parishes in Cambridge (2019), and Holy Family, Immaculate Conception, and Saint Anthony of Padua parishes in Lowell (2019-2020). He has been a faculty member of the Pope St. John XXIII National Seminary in Weston (2020-present); and a faculty member of Saint John’s Seminary in Brighton (2020-present). Since 2023, he has served as secretary for evangelization and discipleship and as episcopal vicar for the central region in the Archdiocese of Boston. Bishop-elect Barbosa speaks English, Portuguese (Brazilian), and Spanish.

The Archdiocese of Boston is comprised of 2,465 square miles in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and has a total population of 4,496,207 of which 1,794,260 are Catholic.

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