On Wednesday in Rome, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Archbishop Lenard P. Blair, who reached the retirement age of 75 years old.
He is succeeded by Archbishop Christopher J. Coyne.
“The city is a very vibrant city,” Archbishop Coyne said. “It’s filled with many different cultures and communities and that’s reflected in our churches.”
Archbishop Coyne has been in Hartford since October and has been working closely with the church community on his transition as the sixth Archbishop.
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Archbishop Blair served the Hartford community for over nine years. Archbishop Coyne will take over an Archdiocese that serves approximately 469,000 Catholics over Hartford, Litchfield and New Haven counties.
“He will be missed,” Alonso Fraden said. “He was wonderful. He was always gracious whenever you approached him.”
The inauguration for Archbishop Coyne will take place on May 5 at the Cathedral of St. Joseph.
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Coyne said his focus will be on the community and one thing he wants to implement is a catholic high school in Hartford.
“I’d like to bring them back,” he said. “At least one in the poorest neighborhoods if we can. And make them tuition free, if we can do that. One of the biggest barriers in Hartford is that they can’t afford it.”
“I think that would be wonderful,” Tom Maino of New Britain said. “There’s a lot of great people out here and I think that will help the community grow as well.”
In addition to the high school, he said he wants the church to be involved in the affordable housing initiatives throughout the city and help unhoused people throughout Hartford find housing.
