Bishop Coyne will leave Vermont in the fall to begin a new role in Hartford.

Bishop Christopher Coyne, the head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington, has been appointed as the coadjutor archbishop of Hartford, Connecticut.

Coyne, serving as the Bishop of Burlington since December 2014, will assume his new role in the fall and eventually succeed the current archbishop of Hartford when he resigns next year, according to a statement released by the Vatican on June 26. As Coyne departs, an administrator will be elected to lead the Diocese of Burlington while Pope Francis decides who to appoint as the new bishop for Vermont.

Coyne, a 65-year-old from Woburn, Massachusetts, became a priest for the Archdiocese of Boston at 27. He studied in Rome and earned a doctorate in sacred liturgy in 1994.

Coyne's accomplishments

During his tenure in Vermont, Coyne organized the Diocese of Burlington's first synod in over 50 years. The synod was a series of meetings focused on shaping the church's future in Vermont. The synod established a pastoral plan for the Catholic Church in the state and developed specific laws and policies to support it.

Additionally, Coyne established the Vermont Catholic Community Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting the Catholic community in the state. Through this foundation, resources, and assistance were provided to various Catholic initiatives.

As bishop of Burlington, Coyne removed an unvaccinated pastor from his parish in 2022 who refused to wear a mask and forming a lay review committee that examined allegations of sexual misconduct by Vermont priests in 2018.

Catholic population declines in Vermont

The Catholic population in Vermont has experienced a decline over the years, according to the Pew Research Center. The decline in part can be attributed to the Catholic sex abuse scandal, which led to the Diocese of Burlington paying millions of dollars in settlements during 2006-2010, resulting in the sale of several properties.

In 2015, 73 parishes were serving 117,000 Catholics, accounting for 18.5% of the state's population. In 2023, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington serves about 110,000 Catholics in 68 parishes. I

This decline is more pronounced when compared to the peak of Vermont's Catholic population in 1978, which stood at 161,710, representing over a third of the state's population at the time.

Contact Free Press staff writer Isabella Infante at iinfante@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Bishop Coyne on Burlington's Catholic Diocese will leave this fall