Early life and education John Dooher was born on May 3, 1943, in
Dorchester, Boston, Massachusetts, to Irish immigrants Anthony (Tony) and Brigid (Patsy) Dooher. One of four children, he has two brothers, Francis and Terence, and one sister, Kathleen. After ordination, Dooher served as
associate pastor at St. Francis Xavier Parish in
Weymouth, Massachusetts, also working as chaplain at
South Shore Hospital in Weymouth and the
Naval Air Station South Weymouth. In 1974, Dooher was posted to St. Augustine Parish in
South Boston. During this period, he also served as president of the Priests' Senate (1978–1982) and director of the Office of Spiritual Development (1982–1991). From 1991 to 1996, Dooher served in pastoral postings at St. Vincent de Paul Parish and Saints Peter and Paul Parish in Boston, which were later merged. In 1996, Dooher was named pastor of
St. Mary of the Assumption Parish in Dedham, Massachusetts. At St. Mary's, Dooher also founded the
Life Teen program. He said that Life Teen was"one of the most satisfying things I've ever been involved with in ministry. If there's any group that needs to feel as if they belong to a church, its teenagers, and Life Teen really helps with that."Dooher was part of the Singing Priests, a group that performed for various charities; he played the guitar, harp, and piano.
Auxiliary Bishop of Boston On October 12, 2006,
Pope Benedict XVI appointed Dooher as an
auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Boston and titular bishop of
Theveste . He received his
episcopal consecration on December 12, 2006, from Cardinal
Seán O'Malley, with Bishops
Francis Irwin and
Walter Edyvean serving as co-consecrators. As an auxiliary, Dooher served as
regional bishop for the
South Pastoral Region. Dooher's appointment was met with some criticism from advocates of
sexual abuse victims' rights, who claimed that Dooher "abetted a harmful and immoral coverup for the Boston archdiocese" as a priest. He had been mentioned in a 2003 report by Massachusetts Attorney General
Thomas Reilly as one of two priests who in the mid-1990's met with pastors in
parishes affected by abuse cases. In a 2002 deposition by Bishop
John McCormack, Dooher was noted as having participated in conversations in the archdiocese in 1994 about where to house abusive priests.
Retirement On June 30, 2018,
Pope Francis accepted Dooher's letter of resignation as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Boston after he reached the mandatory retirement age of 75. ==See also==