Christopher J. Coyne

Coyne was the first auxiliary bishop in the archdiocese since 1933.

Christopher James Coyne (born June 17, 1958) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church.

He has been serving as coadjutor archbishop of the Archdiocese of Hartford in Connecticut and the administrator of the Diocese of Burlington in Vermont since June 2023.

Christopher Coyne was born on June 17, 1958, in Woburn, Massachusetts to Rita and Bill Coyne.

He attended public schools in Woburn, graduating from Woburn Memorial High School in 1976.

In 1980, Coyne received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from University of Massachusetts Lowell in Lowell, Massachusetts.

For two years after graduation, Coyne worked as a bartender.

Having decided to enter the priesthood, Coyne enrolled in 1982 at St. John's Seminary in Boston.

He graduated in 1986 with a Master of Divinity degree.

On June 7, 1986, Coyne was ordained a priest for Archdiocese of Boston by Cardinal Bernard Law at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston.

After his 1986 ordination, the archdiocese assigned Coyne as parochial vicar for St. Mary of the Hills Parish in Milton, Massachusetts.

Coyne went to Rome in 1989 to study at the Pontifical Liturgical Institute.

In 1992, he earned his Licentiate in Sacred Theology and in 1994 his Doctor of Sacred Liturgy degree.

In 1994, Coyne returned to Boston to become director of the pre-theology program at St. John's Seminary.

Coyne became director for the archdiocesan Office of Worship in 2000.

In 2002, Coyne became cabinet secretary for communications and archdiocesan spokesman in the middle of the clerical sex abuse scandal in the archdiocese.

According to Coyne, he turned down two prior offers for the position from Cardinal Law.

On finally accepting the job, Coyne said he told Law that he would not lie or disparage victims and wanted full access to archdiocese records.

In 2004, he became an adjunct faculty member there.

In 2005, Coyne was appointed pastor of Our Lady Help of Christians Parish in Newton, Massachusetts.

His appointment raised controversy in the parish because Coyne had been the archdiocesan spokesman under Law, who had replaced a former pastor for speaking out against him.

After serving four months in Our Lady, Coyne requested a transfer to another parish from Archbishop Sean O'Malley.

In 2006, O'Malley transferred Coyne to Saint Margaret Mary Parish in Westwood, Massachusetts.

In January 2011, Pope Benedict XVI named Coyne as an auxiliary bishop of Indianapolis and titular bishop of Mopta.

On March 2, 2011, he was consecrated in St. John the Evangelist Church in Indianapolis by Archbishop Daniel Buechlein, with Bishop Richard Lennon and Bishop Paul Dennis Etienne serving as co-consecrators.

In March 2011, Buechlein named Coyne as vicar general, a post he would hold until 2016.

On September 21, 2011, Coyne was appointed the apostolic administrator for the archdiocese by Benedict XVI.

This was due to Buechlein's early retirement due to ill health.

Coyne served as apostolic administrator until the installation of Archbishop Joseph Tobin in 2012.

In November 2014, Coyne was elected chair of the Committee on Communication of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

On December 22, 2014, Pope Francis named Coyne as bishop of Burlington.

Coyne previously served as the bishop of Burlington from 2015 to 2023 and as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis in Indiana from 2011 to 2015.

His installation occurred on January 29, 2015.

On September 28, 2016, Coyne waived the non-disclosure agreements for all sexual abuse victims from St. Joseph's Orphanage in Burlington who had settled lawsuits against the diocese.

He said that he wanted these victims to tell their abuse stories without fear of being sued.

On December 17, 2020, Coyne apologized to the victims after the release of an investigative report by the State of Vermont that verified sexual abuse crimes at St. Joseph's: "I absolutely believe that children were abused at the orphanage. No one is contesting that at all. Any victim of abuse at the hands of clergy of the church is an awful thing and I can't apologize enough."

On June 26, 2023, Pope Francis named Coyne as coadjutor archbishop of Hartford in Connecticut.

He was to also serve as apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Burlington until the pope appointed a new bishop.

Coyne took up residence in Hartford with a Mass of Welcome on October 9, 2023.