John Reed

A native Bostonian, Reed, 66, is a former student at St. John’s, the primary training institute for priests in the archdiocese.

He was ordained as a priest with the Archdiocese of Boston in 1985, and has served seven local parishes since then.

Reed also is president of the CatholicTV Network, which broadcasts Mass and other religious programming across the archdiocese.

“I am so grateful for Bishop Reed’s service to the Church of Boston and his important work in sharing the faith through media,” Henning said in a statement.

“He will bring experience and authenticity as a priest and bishop to this critical work of forming future priests for the Church,” Henning said. “I look forward to working with Bishop Reed and the Board and faculty to maintain the high quality of academics and formation at St. John’s Seminary.”

The seminary on Lake Street was founded in 1884 and trains men for the Roman Catholic priesthood.

In the statement, Reed said he was both “surprised and deeply honored” to be invited by Henning, other bishops, and the Board of Trustees to serve as the seminary’s rector.

Reed said he will turn to the faculty and staff to draw on “their personal expertise and experience as a formation team.”

“Having served as a Catholic priest for over 40 years, in the parish and the parish of the airways, I understand the seminary to be the heart of the diocese it serves,” Reed said in the statement and on social media. “From this community of faith, men, led by the Holy Spirit to discern their call to Holy Orders, are formed and sent forth with priestly grace, to serve and inspire the same communion in the Faith within their dioceses and parish life.”

Reed succeeds Monsignor Stephen E. Salocks in the role.

Salocks took over as rector in 2018, amid an independent review of alleged sexual misconduct and bullying at the institution.

A yearlong review of seminary operations was led by former Massachusetts US attorney Donald K. Stern. It concluded that while the seminary was not “a den of sexual misconduct fueled by excessive drinking,” it did lack strong leadership, solid financial controls, and tolerance for dissent.

Henning lauded Salocks’ tenure.

“It has been a blessing to work with Monsignor Salocks since arriving in the Archdiocese of Boston,“ said Henning, who has served as archbishop of Boston since 2024.

“He already enjoyed my confidence when I served in Providence and entrusted the seminarians of that diocese to St. John’s Seminary,” Henning said. “Few can claim as long an association with St. John’s as this holy priest who studied and served here over decades. We are all grateful to him for his priestly witness, academic skills, and his selfless leadership.”

Henning will host a celebratory retirement dinner for Salocks June 1 in Newton.

Reed was raised in Swampscott, the youngest of five children. He attended high school at Saint John’s Preparatory School in Danvers before attending the seminary in Brighton, the archdiocese said.

Reed went to Rome for his university education, earning advanced degrees from the Pontifical Gregorian University and the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, according to the statement from the archdiocese.

Reed furthered his deep interests in television and digital media by studying television management at Boston University, the statement said.

In 2016, Reed was consecrated a bishop and appointed Regional Bishop for the West Region of the Archdiocese of Boston, according to the archdiocese.

Aside from serving as president of the CatholicTV Network, Reed also is CEO of its parent organization, iCatholic Media, Inc., which operates a parish bulletin service, a printing company, and The Pilot — the nation’s oldest continuous published Catholic newspaper, the archdiocese said.

Reed also serves on the board of directors for Catholic Relief Services and the board of governors for the Pontifical North American College in Rome. He previously chaired the US Conference of Catholic Bishop’s Committee on Communications, according to the archdiocese.