by ARCHBISHOP CHRISTOPHER J. COYNE
As I write this first column to you as Archbishop, I want to begin by thanking the bishops, the priests, deacons and their wives, religious, staff, volunteers, and lay men and women for the incredible welcome I have received since I first arrived here in the Archdiocese of Hartford seven months ago. Since then, I have been blessed with the opportunity to visit numerous parishes, schools and institutions in the Archdiocese. I have met individually with almost all of our priests in active ministry and I thank them for all their sacrifices and hard work that make our life together happen. I have visited 28 of our 36 schools and will try to visit them all in the months ahead. I have visited parishes, sat down at table with numerous people, enjoyed many good conversations, been given a lot of advice, and heard a lot of stories. I have prayed with you, worshipped with you, and blessed you as, already, you have blessed me. I pledge to you all that I will continue to do so. I am not a lonely Shepherd who walks ahead of the flock, but one who walks in the midst of the flock.
One thing I’m very committed to for our life together is for us to duly heed Pope Francis’ call for our Church to live synodality, both in our mindset and in practice. This basically means that you and I together — clergy, religious and laity — pray together, dialogue together, and discern together, the path that we need to walk as Catholics. We do all this residing under the power of the Holy Spirit. This difficult, but needed work of leading by listening, rooted in prayer, has deeply enriched my pastoral ministry even before this pontificate, and wherever I’ve been sent — or tossed — over the years, I have found over and over again that if there’s one reason our people walk away, it’s because they simply don’t feel heard. Now we may not always agree, but I want to hear and listen (because there is a difference) to what you, my brothers and sisters in Christ, have to say.
Finally, under the heading of “hold the date,” the apostolic nuncio to the United States, Cardinal Christophe Pierre, will bestow the Pallium — a woven woolen collar given to an archbishop as a sign of his office — on me Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Hartford. I will be traveling to Rome at the end of June to receive the Pallium from Pope Francis at a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on June 29, the Solemnity of SS. Peter and Paul, but will not formally don it until I return to the Archdiocese. So, please “hold the date” and plan to join with me on Monday, Oct. 14, for a wonderful celebration of our life as an Archdiocese