American Bishop says the Church needs to relocate from Rome

 

New Hartford prelate advises moving church’s HQ out of Rome

By John Lavenburg

Nov 21, 2023

NEW YORK – In a local television interview, the new archbishop-in-waiting of the Archdiocese of Hartford, Connecticut, said that if there was one thing he would suggest to Pope Francis to change it would be to move the Church’s headquarters out of Rome, as the Church is “too Roman.”

“I’d say get it out of Italy. Get it out of Rome. Put it wherever you need to. It’s too Roman,” Coyne told a reporter with WTNH News8.

“Because it’s Roman … it’s inbred in terms of the culture of that community there. [Pope Francis has] tried, and tried, and tried, to change the Roman ways, but you hit the Roman ways that have been a part of the tradition of the Church for years,” Coyne said.

“That would be the first thing I say [to Pope Francis]: ‘Is there any way we can move out of Rome and just kind of start over with a different bureaucracy?’” Coyne explained.

The interview aired Nov. 20. Coyne previously served as the bishop of Burlington, Vermont, and as an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, Indiana, before he was appointed to Hartford in June, 2023. He will replace Archbishop Leonard Blair of Hartford once Pope Francis accepts Blair’s resignation, presumably on his 75th birthday on April 12, 2024.

In the about eight-minute long interview, Coyne gave a sobering look on the archdiocese’s reality, saying that more churches will close in the future. He also addressed the topic of women’s role in the Church, saying that he envisions them having a larger role, and that someday he hopes he’ll have the opportunity to “ordain or name some deaconesses [women deacons].”

The Archdiocese of Hartford comprises 2,288 square miles in Connecticut. It has a total population of 1,926,810, of which 427,669 are Catholic. The archdiocese went through a reconfiguration process in 2017, which resulted in 26 churches closing outright, and 144 others merging into 59 new parishes, leaving the archdiocese with 186 parishes at the time.

However, the latest information on the archdiocese’s website says that the archdiocese has 117 parishes, suggesting more have closed since.

In the interview, Coyne was frank about the reality that more churches will close in the archdiocese, putting most of the onus on the faithful who have left their local churches in unsustainable situations.

“The problem is not that the church has abandoned, that the priest has abandoned, or that the archdiocese has abandoned. The people who used to be in the church have left the church,” Coyne said. Now, part of it is we were complacent. We weren’t kind of concerned about that until all of the sudden it became a problem. But I think in many instances when churches close it’s because there’s nobody there.

“So who walked away? Coyne continued. “I don’t want to make it look like I’m blaming the laity and the people who walked away, but if the numbers aren’t there you can’t sustain it.”

The archbishop, however, added that he has “no idea” how many will close.

“I know that there are a number of parishes that have combined, and they all have a huge number of buildings that there’s going to have to be decisions made about what buildings are maintained and which are not,” Coyne explained. “Schools, parish rectories, parish halls, and churches, and a lot of it depends on all sorts of factors so I have no idea.”

The reality of churches closing and a diminishing number of faithful connects directly to his stated goal when he takes over as archbishop, which is to evangelize. He noted that the American Church, particularly in the northeast, is “no longer the Church of the culture … a Church of the community in the sense that we have an automatic entrance into different walks of life.”

“We’re a missionary Church now. People don’t just come to our church,” Coyne said. “They don’t walk through the doors. In fact, most people are walking out of doors.”

To change that reality, Coyne said the Church has to evangelize one person and one family at a time. And to young people who have left the Church, he offered a message of welcome for their return.

“We have a place for you. That you’re always welcome. That when you come here it’s a non-judgmental zone,” Coyne said. “Yes, sometimes our message is hard to hear because it’s challenging, but we’re all on the way to salvation and we want to accompany each other on that way, growing in that life of holiness.”

Follow John Lavenburg on Twitter: @johnlavenburg

Hartford CT gets new co-adjutor Archbishop

 

Pope Francis Appoints Bishop Christopher Coyne as Coadjutor Archbishop of Hartford

WASHINGTON - Pope Francis has appointed Most Reverend Christopher J. Coyne, bishop of Burlington, as Coadjutor Archbishop of Hartford.

The appointment was publicized in Washington, D.C. on June 26, 2023, by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States. Archbishop Leonard P. Blair is the current archbishop of Hartford, and the appointment as coadjutor archbishop confers on Bishop Coyne the right of succession for the Archdiocese of Hartford.

Bishop Coyne’s biography may be found here.

The Archdiocese of Hartford is comprised of 2,288 square miles in the State of Connecticut and has a total population of 1,926,810 of which 427,669, are Catholic.

New England Bishop removes a pastor over Covid 19 mandate

 

Burlington bishop removes pastor for disobedience over COVID-19 directives

   By Joe Bukuras for CNA

Burlington, Vt., Mar 8, 2022 / 17:08 pm (CNA).

In a letter to parishioners of Holy Family Parish in Springfield, Vermont, Bishop Christopher Coyne of Burlington announced that their pastor is being removed from his position over his continued refusal to be tested regularly for COVID-19 and to wear a mask while ministering, as the bishop had directed.

The bishop also noted that he has invited Father Peter Williams to reside with him, so they “can pray, dialogue and worship together to hopefully change the bad opinion he has of me as his bishop.”

“After an extensive process and much prayer, it is with great sadness that I announce the decision to remove Father Peter Williams as pastor of Holy Family Parish for his serious disobedience and disrespect shown to the office of the bishop,” Coyne wrote in a Mar. 8 letter to parishioners.

The “disobedience and disrespect” that Coyne is referring to is Williams’ written refusal to wear a mask and be tested regularly for COVID-19, per his unvaccinated status.

“May I point out that this is about the promise Father Williams freely made to respect and obey the bishop and his successors when he was ordained to serve the Church in Vermont as a co-worker with the bishop,” Coyne wrote.

Coyne said that a “great deal of misinformation has been spread” and has caused division within the parish and has impacted Williams’ ability to minister to “all parishioners.”

CNA contacted Williams for a comment but received no response by time of publication.

Mask wearing and COVID-19 testing were required of all clerics of the diocese who chose not to get vaccinated, as was announced in Coyne’s September 2021 letter to clergy.

In a Jan. 5 video, Williams first announced publicly that he had been refusing Coyne’s orders to wear masks and to be tested. He said that, originally, he chose to keep his correspondences with Coyne to himself for the sake of maintaining normalcy in his parish.

But after Williams’ refusal, he said he received a correspondence from Coyne which stated that he had 14 days to comply, or Coyne would suspend him. Then, he said, his own family joined the diocese in trying to prove that he is physically and mentally unhealthy.

He said it “broke his heart” when his family got involved and the pressure became too much of a burden. So, he turned to his parishioners in the video and asked them to write a letter to Coyne on his behalf stating how they thought he was doing as a pastor and how they would evaluate his mental health.

Bishop Coyne told CNA in a Mar. 8 phone call that he received the letters, but said that over the past two years he has received the same amount of letters from people who have left Holy Family parish because Williams “was not vaccinated and refused to wear a mask and did not encourage people to wear masks in the church either.”

CNA asked for comment on Williams’ claim that the diocese and his family were trying to prove he is unhealthy.

Coyne said that conflict between Williams and his family is unrelated to the decision. “The decision is simply based on the fact that a man who freely accepted the promise of respect and obedience to the bishop and his successors was given a direct order, in obedience, to do something. And he said no,” Coyne said.

Coyne called the situation “very sad” for the parish, the diocese, and himself.

In his letter, the bishop wrote that he has appointed Father Henry Furman, pastor of St. Michael Parish in Brattleboro, as administrator of Holy Family parish “until another priest can be assigned on a more permanent basis.”

If Williams does not leave the parish, Coyne said: “I’m certainly not going to escalate the situation. We’ll just let it play out and see where it goes.”

“I’m certainly not one who’s going to begin with retaliation or strong arm tactics or anything like that,” he added. “I’m just praying people make good decisions.”

In Coyne’s letter to parishioners, he said that he invited Williams to stay with him at his residence in St. Joseph Cathedral Parish in Burlington “so that he and I can pray, dialogue and worship together to hopefully change the bad opinion he has of me as his bishop and to strengthen the bond of fraternity that should exist between a bishop and his priest.”

When asked if he thinks Williams will accept, Coyne said he hopes he does because “he’s one of my brother priests and I don’t want to lose a priest. I need every priest we have.”

In his Jan. 5 video, Williams said that he has canonical rights as a pastor to remain in his post and had hired a canon lawyer to help fight the case until Coyne officially removes him through a canonical process.

In a Feb. 22 video Williams argued that Coyne’s demands violate natural law and the dictates of conscience.

Williams also said that the Church condemns the use of coercion, even if that coercion is used to vaccinate people during a pandemic.

Williams said that “it’s undeniable” that at the time he posted his original video, while COVID-19 vaccines were approved under the Food and Drug Administration’s Emergency Use Authorization, that the FDA was acknowledging that the vaccines were experimental.

Williams cited the Catechism of the Catholic Church section 2295 which says that experiments “are morally legitimate when they are at the service of the integral good of the person and of society, without disproportionate risks to the life and physical and psychological integrity of the subjects who must be properly informed and consenting.”

“If ‘informed consent’ doesn’t include the ability to decline a treatment or procedure, then it is not informed consent,” Williams said.

In Vermont a Catholic pastor goes head to head against his Bishop over vaccinations and mask mandates

 

Windsor County pastor fighting Vermont Catholic Diocese’s Covid precautions

By Kevin O'Connor

Jan 10 2022, 6:18 PM

A Windsor County pastor is fighting a Vermont Roman Catholic Diocese call for Covid-19 vaccinations, masks and other pandemic precautions for the state’s largest religious denomination.

“Being more of the ilk of a patriot,” the Rev. Peter Williams said in a recent YouTube video, “I balk at any incursion into my rights as a human being and certainly a U.S. citizen.”

Vermont Catholic Bishop Christopher Coyne has asked all clergy to get vaccinated or, if not, wear a mask and undergo regular testing to curb the transmission of the coronavirus.

“Because he made it a matter of honor and obedience, I quickly responded to him saying that I would not,” said Williams, who heads the combined Holy Family Parish of St. Mary’s in Springfield and St. Joseph’s in neighboring Chester. “He got back to me and said that I had 14 days to comply or he would suspend me.”

Williams, in turn, has hired a lawyer.

“I have no intention of resigning as pastor, because that is my job,” said the priest, who has led his parish since 2003.

Calls to the Holy Family Parish office went unanswered Monday. But Williams, in his video, said the diocese wasn’t the only entity he was defying.

“I learned that my family had joined with the bishop,” he said, “in advancing the case that I was seriously ill and my liver function was failing and that had severely impacted my mental capacities.”

Williams, age 61, disputed that.

“I am in very good health,” the priest said. “I’ve managed to lose some weight and to exercise more regularly, because I know that has tremendous effects on boosting our immune system.”

Organizations ranging from the World Health Organization to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have stressed the need for vaccinations, masks and physical distancing.

The Vermont diocese, for its part, released a statement Monday.

“The present pastoral situation in Springfield is a sad and difficult situation that Bishop Coyne is addressing with care for all concerned,” the release said. “In order to protect the good name and reputation of all involved, he does not choose to speak to the content of the video.”

“The No. 1 priority of the Diocese of Burlington,” its statement concluded, “is to offer the sacraments and the fullness of parish life to the Catholic community in a safe environment that protects the health and well-being of our priests and parishioners.”

The 10-minute “A Personal Message from Father Peter Williams” video has logged more than 1,800 views — almost five times the average 400 views for most Holy Family Mass broadcasts on its YouTube channel.

The resulting three dozen comments as of Monday reflected a divided response.

“Thank you for your honesty and sincerity,” wrote a commenter identified as wfs2email. “The bishop’s decree makes me wonder if eventually all parishioners will likewise be subject to the same edict or be excommunicated.”

“The truly vulnerable should stay home during the winter respiratory season,” wrote another named Dragonfly. “I take great joy in seeing the fresh, joyful faces of unmasked children and young families at weekly Mass.”

But others have expressed concern.

“In my upbringing, a patriot is someone who puts him or herself on the line for the safety and protection of his neighbors, country, and loved ones,” said a commenter identified as Linda M. “This is sad at best and will continue to divide the congregation that I so love because an individual doesn’t want to follow what is being asked for the good of the many. This is not about one person, but all of us.”

“I don’t want to speak for the diocese, but it appears they feel that there is a global pandemic where over 800,000 citizens in our country have perished in a two-year period,” added a writer named SMT1948. “It is conceivable that is the diocese’s way of helping all parishioners, not just the healthy and robust. Indeed, this is Jesus’ teachings, and yes, it takes sacrifice from everyone.”