Most Reverend Alfred Clifton Hughes became the 13th Archbishop of New Orleans on January 3, 2002, when Pope John Paul II accepted the retirement of Archbishop Francis Bible Schulte, who turned 75 on December 23, 2001.
Archbishop Hughes had served as Coadjutor Archbishop of New Orleans since February 16, 2001. Since arriving full time in the Archdiocese of New Orleans last May, Archbishop Hughes has visited 90 of the archdiocese's 142 parishes in a concerted effort to learn more about the nearly half-million Catholics now entrusted to his pastoral leadership.
'The announcement of our Holy Father Pope John Paul II that he has accepted the retirement of Archbishop Francis Schulte ushers the Archdiocese of New Orleans into a new era,' Archbishop Hughes said. 'I now embrace the awesome responsibility God has entrusted to me through our Holy Father. I thank him for his trust and ask you for your prayer that I may do what God wants me to do and serve in the way he wants me to serve.'
Archbishop Hughes, who said he would try to emphasize evangelization during his tenure as archbishop, praised Archbishop Schulte for his nearly 13 years of ministry that began when he was installed as the 12th Archbishop of New Orleans on February 14, 1989.
A native of West Roxbury, Mass., outside of Boston, Archbishop Hughes was welcomed to the Archdiocese of New Orleans on Mary 2, 2001, with a special Mass of Welcome at St. Louis Cathedral.
Archbishop Hughes served as the fourth Bishop of Baton Rouge from 1993 - to 2001. Archbishop Schulte called Archbishop Hughes 'an outstanding theologian and one of the most respected members of the American hierarchy.' Archbishop Hughes served as rector of St. John's Seminary in Brighton, Mass., from 1981 to 1986 after having served as a faculty member, spiritual director and lecturer there since 1962.
He was vicar general and vicar of administration of the Archdiocese of Boston under Cardinal Bernard Law from 1990 until he was appointed Bishop of Baton Rouge in 1993.
After attending St. John's Seminary College, where he earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy in 1954, he completed his seminary studies in 1958 at the Gregorian University in Rome. He was ordained a priest in Rome on December 15, 1957 and after two parish assignments, returned to the Gregorian for a doctoral degree in spiritual theology from 1959-1961. He joined the faculty at St. John's Seminary in 1962.
Archbishop Hughes is a member of numerous U.S. bishops committees, including the committee to oversee the use of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Archbishop Hughes was born December 2, 1932, the third of four children to Alfred C. and Ellen (Hennessey) Hughes Sr., who are both deceased. He has two sisters, Dorothy (Mrs. John) Callahan and Marie (Mrs. Alexander) Morgan, and a young brother, Jesuit Father Kenneth Hughes.
