Bishop Christopher J. Coyne of Burlington, VT. Courtesy photograph. / null
Vatican City, Jun 26, 2023 / 04:40 am (CNA).
Pope Francis appointed Bishop Christopher Coyne as a coadjutor archbishop of Hartford on Monday.
As coadjutor, Coyne will assist Archbishop Leonard Blair in the administration of the Hartford archdiocese and should succeed him as archbishop upon his retirement, expected once Blair turns 75 next year.
Coyne has led the Diocese of Burlington, Vermont since 2015. The 65-year-old bishop previously served as the auxiliary bishop of Indianapolis from 2011 to 2015.
Originally from Woburn, Massachusetts, Coyne worked as a bartender for two years before entering seminary. He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Boston at the age of 27. After ordination, he studied in Rome at the Pontifical Liturgical Institute, where he earned a doctorate in sacred liturgy in 1994. He became the director of the archdiocese’s Office of Worship in 2000.
Cardinal Bernard Law appointed Coyne as a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Boston in 2002, a role he held for three years at the height of the archdiocese’s sex abuse scandal.
He later served as the chairman of communications for the U.S. bishops’ conference from 2015 to 2018 and as a member of the U.S. bishops’ Evangelization and Catechesis Committee and the Committee on Divine Worship.
Next year, Coyne is expected to succeed Blair, who has led the Archdiocese of Hartford for the past ten years. Before coming to Connecticut, Blair served as the bishop of Toledo from 2003 to 2013 and as an auxiliary bishop of Detroit from 1999 to 2003.
Blair initiated a pastoral plan in 2016 to revitalize the Archdiocese of Hartford, which combined neighboring churches into a single parish, reducing the number of parishes from 213 to 127. He also called for an archdiocesan synod in 2018.
The Archdiocese of Hartford includes the counties of New Haven and Litchfield and has nearly 470,000 Catholics. Pope Gregory XVI established Hartford as a diocese in 1843.
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Cardinals follow the ceremony during the ordinary public consistory for the creation of new cardinals at St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City, Dec. 7, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
Vatican City, Apr 28, 2025 / 11:09 am (CNA).
At the upcoming papal conclave, set to begin May 7, the College of Cardinals will include several notably young members who have traveled to Rome from across the world, from Mongolia to Australia.
Among the 135 cardinals who are eligible to vote in a conclave, 15 of them are under the age of 60.
Historically, the age of cardinals participating in papal conclaves has varied. One of the youngest was Cardinal Alfonso Gesualdo di Conza, who attended the 1565–1566 conclave at the age of 25.
In more recent times, during the 2013 conclave, Cardinal Baselios Cleemis Thottunkal, major archbishop of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, was the youngest cardinal elector at 53. In the upcoming conclave, there are six cardinals the same age or younger.
Three of the youngest cardinals who will take part in the Conclave: Americo Manuel (51), from Portugal; Cardenal Mykola (45), Ukrainian Greek Catholic cardinal from Australia; and Cardinal Giorgio Marengo, (50), from Mongolia. They took a selfie yesterday in St Peter’s Basilica. pic.twitter.com/8rNa3vUWwA
The five youngest cardinals lead sees in Australia, Mongolia, Portugal, and Canada as well as a dicastery of the Roman Curia. Two of them are Eastern-rite Catholics. Three were made cardinals in the last consistory before the conclave.
Here are the five youngest cardinals who will help select the next pope:
Cardinal Mykola Bychok, 45
Born on Feb. 13, 1980, in Ternopil, Ukraine, Bychok felt the call to the priesthood at the age of 15. He joined the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (the Redemptorists) in 1997, inspired by their missionary zeal. His service has been extensive, including roles as a missionary in Russia, parish priest, and provincial bursar in Ukraine as well as vicar of the Ukrainian Catholic Parish of St. John the Baptist in Newark, New Jersey.
Bishop Mykola Bychok, CSSR, speaks to journalists ahead of being made a cardinal on Dec. 6, 2024. The Ukrainian Greek Catholic prelate has served as eparch of Sts. Peter and Paul of Melbourne, Australia, since 2020. Credit: EWTN News
In January 2020, Pope Francis appointed him as the eparchial bishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Sts. Peter and Paul in Melbourne, Australia. His episcopal consecration took place on June 7, 2020. Bychok has worked to foster community among the Ukrainian diaspora in Australia and to increase youth engagement within the Church.
On Dec. 7, 2024, Pope Francis elevated him to the College of Cardinals, making him the current world’s youngest cardinal.
Cardinal Giorgio Marengo, 50
Cardinal Giorgio Marengo, born on June 7, 1974, in Cuneo, Italy, has been a Consolata missionary in Mongolia since 2003. He was ordained a priest in 2001 and appointed apostolic prefect of Ulaanbaatar in 2020.
Cardinal Giorgio Marengo was one of the first to welcome Pope Francis to Mongolia on Sept. 1, 2023. Marengo is an Italian cardinal who has served as a missionary in Mongolia for nearly 20 years. He is the current apostolic prefect of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Francis created him a cardinal on Aug. 27, 2022, making him the youngest member of the College of Cardinals at the time at age 48. He welcomed Pope Francis to Mongolia in 2023 as the first pope to ever visit the country. Marengo is fluent in Mongolian, Italian, and English.
Cardinal Américo Manuel Aguiar Alves, 51
Cardinal Américo Manuel Aguiar Alves, born on Dec. 12, 1973, is the bishop of Setúbal, Portugal. Before entering the priesthood, Aguiar had a brief political career, serving as a town councilor under the Socialist Party. He was ordained a priest at the age of 27 in 2001 and went on to serve in roles such as vicar general and communication director for the Diocese of Porto. He became the auxiliary bishop of Lisbon in 2019 and gained recognition for his leadership in organizing the 2023 World Youth Day in Lisbon, which drew over 1.5 million attendees.
Pope Francis made him a cardinal in late 2023.
Cardinal Américo Manuel Aguiar Alves. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA
Cardinal George Jacob Koovakad, 51
Cardinal George Jacob Koovakad, born on Aug. 11, 1973, in Kerala, India, is a Vatican diplomat and Syro-Malabar archbishop. His diplomatic career included assignments in various countries, including Algeria, South Korea, Iran, Costa Rica, and Venezuela. In July 2020, Koovakad returned to Rome to work as an official in the Secretariat of State. He was responsible for organizing Pope Francis’ international travels from 2021 to 2024.
Indian Cardinal George Jacob Koovakad of the Syro-Malabar Church, official of the Secretariat of State and organizer of papal trips, was created a cardinal by Pope Francis during the consistory at St. Peter’s Basilica on Dec. 7, 2024. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA
The pope elevated Koovakad to cardinal on Dec. 7, 2024, and appointed him as prefect of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue in January.
Cardinal Francis Leo, 53
Cardinal Francis “Frank” Leo, born on June 30, 1971, in Montreal to Italian immigrant parents, is the current archbishop of Toronto. He was ordained as a priest for the Archdiocese of Montreal in 1996. Leo holds a doctorate in systematic theology with a specialization in Mariology from the University of Dayton. He served as the general secretary of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops from 2015 to 2021 and was appointed archbishop of Toronto in 2023, an archdiocese with a population of about 2 million Catholics.
Pope Francis made Leo a cardinal in December 2024.
Cardinal Francis Leo of Toronto was created a cardinal by Pope Francis during the consistory at St. Peter’s Basilica on Dec. 7, 2024. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA
Pope Francis at the Synod on Synodality on Oct. 6, 2023. / Credit: Vatican Media
Rome Newsroom, Oct 17, 2023 / 13:40 pm (CNA).
Pope Francis, who is known as “the pope of the peripheries,” has suggested the possibility of traveling to somewhere … […]
Sudanese carry a man injured during clashes as part of protests against a military coup that overthrew the transition to civilian rule, on Oct. 25, 2021 in the capital Khartoum. – Sudan’s top general declared a state of emergency Monday as soldiers rounded up civilian leaders, with three people killed as soldiers put down furious protests decrying a coup. / -/AFP via Getty Images
El Obeid, Sudan, Oct 27, 2021 / 15:19 pm (CNA).
The international community must to put pressure on Sudan’s military to show respect and value for human life, a Catholic bishop in the country said Tuesday, shortly after a coup.
Sudan’s military launched a coup against the country’s transitional government Oct. 25. Civilian rule was dissolved and General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan became head of state. Protesters have been fired on, with 10 reportedly killed.
Bishop Yunan Tombe Trille Andali of El Obeid told ACI Africa Oct. 26 that the coup is a retrogression that brings Sudan “back to the military junta rule.”
“We hear of the death of the people who express their feelings towards the coup against civilian governments,” Bishop Tombe Trille said after multiple protesters were reportedly killed.
“The international community should put their pressure on the junta to value the life of their citizens,” he said.
Bishop Tombe Trille also urged the international community “to assist the military junta to respect and abide with the norms, release the detained civil ministers and dialogue with them to hand back the power to civil government.”
“The message of the scripture remains to be the strength of the people of God in the light of any situation,” the bishop, who is also president of the Sudanese bishops’ conference, commented.
He added, “The Church in Sudan has (never) remained silent under the Cross of Christ despite some changes which took place in Sudan; the attitude of the rulers towards the Church never changed.”
Sudan had been under the military dictatorship of Omar al-Bashir since 1989, but pro-democracy protests led to his overthrow in April 2019 and the installation of a transitional government which had both civilian and military elements.
There was a failed coup in September, but this week Burhan, who was chair of the power-sharing Sovereignty Council, has detained civilian government and political party leaders.
The coup has been widely condemned, with the US and the World Bank withholding aid, and the African Union suspending Sudan from the bloc.
Sudan was listed by the US Department of State as a Country of Particular Concern for its religious freedom record from 1999 to 2019.
In December 2019, it was moved to the Special Watch List “due to significant steps taken by the civilian-led transitional government to address the previous regime’s ‘systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom.’”
At least 90 percent of Sudan’s population is Muslim, though Islam was disestablished in 2020.
Not bad for a bishop who helped Bernard Law cover up the scandal in Boston-guess crime does still pay in the Catholic Church