The top Catholic leader in Vermont, Bishop Christopher Coyne, is leaving the state for a new post in Connecticut.

Pope Francis announced on Monday that he named Coyne the coadjutor archbishop for the Archdiocese of Hartford, Conn. The title means Coyne will take over for the city's current archbishop, Leonard Blair, when the latter retires next year.

Coyne will start his new position in October. As archbishop, he will be "responsible for the spiritual shepherding of the half-million Catholics in Hartford, New Haven, and Litchfield counties," a press release from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington said. He has been Bishop of Burlington since December 2014.



The diocese praised Coyne for his leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic and for establishing the Vermont Catholic Community Foundation, a nonprofit that financially supports Catholic schools and parishes.
Coyne's tenure was also marked by the launch of an investigation into abuse at the former St. Joseph's Catholic Orphanage on North Avenue in Burlington in 2018. A task force found no evidence of murder there — as had been alleged in a bombshell Buzzfeed News story — but did find credible evidence of widespread physical, emotional and sexual abuse.

Coyne notably released survivors from nondisclosure agreements they'd signed in the 1990s so that they could participate in the 2018 investigation. But he declined to relitigate the cases, saying the diocese had no money for additional settlements.

The Burlington City Council is poised on Monday night to adopt a 2024 budget that includes $15,000 for a public memorial and healing garden for orphanage abuse survivors. The $160,000 project, which is also to be funded with private donations, is proposed to connect North Avenue with the Burlington Greenway and will feature a sculptural arbor, wildflowers and boulders etched with former residents' words.

A group of priests known as the Diocesan College of Consultors will choose an interim leader in Burlington until Pope Francis selects a new bishop.