BOSTON (WHDH) – After more than two decades at the helm of the country’s fourth-largest archdiocese, Cardinal Seán O’Malley is saying goodbye.

His successor, Bishop Richard Henning, held his first prayer service at St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Revere on Wednesday evening ahead of his official inauguration.

“Tonight it’s just very exciting to finally meet the people here on site. You can see the joy and faith of the people who gather here tonight,” Henning said Wednesday evening.

On Thursday, a mass for the installation of Henning was celebrated in the cathedral. Around 1,400 guests, including 500 priests, were present.

The mass began with Henning knocking three times on the cathedral’s front door. He was met at the door by O’Malley.

A short time later, Henning was installed as the seventh Archbishop of Boston. He showed the congregation the apostolic commission he received from the Vatican – the pope’s calling to serve the fourth-largest archdiocese in the United States.

Henning has led the Diocese of Providence for the past year and vows to continue O’Malley’s mission.

“We are so sad that Cardinal O’Malley is leaving us, and we are grateful to God and praise the Lord that we have a new pastor,” said parishioner Luis Munoz.

O’Malley was ordained by Pope Benedict XVI in 2003. named head of the Archdiocese of Boston in the wake of the clergy sexual abuse scandal. He has also been appointed by the Vatican to lead a panel looking into the church’s efforts to deal with allegations of sexual abuse by clergy.

Over the past 20 years, O’Malley has emphasized the need to support survivors.

In his sermon Thursday, Henning didn’t shy away from the topic, saying, “This is a wounded church.”

“And we owe a huge debt of gratitude to the victims and survivors who tell their stories because they have helped protect new generations,” Henning said.

Former Boston Mayor Ray Flynn, who served as U.S. ambassador to the Holy See in the mid-1990s, was in attendance Thursday. He said he believes Henning will do a great job serving the archdiocese.

“I met him when he was down in Rhode Island and I met him when I was at the Vatican. He taught there and I met him there in Rome. So now he’s back home in Boston with me,” Flynn said.

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