Christopher James Coyne (born June 17, 1958) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

prelate of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. Since 2015, he has been bishop of the

Diocese of Burlington The Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington ( la, Dioecesis Burlingtonensis) is a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the New England region of the United States, comprising the entire state of Vermont. The Diocese of Burlington was canonically e ...

in Vermont. Coyne previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the

Archdiocese of Indianapolis The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis ( la, Archidioecesis Indianapolitana) is a division of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. When it was originally erected as the Diocese of Vincennes on May 6, 1834, it encompassed all of ...

in Indiana from 2011 to 2015.

Biography

Early life and education

Coyne was born in

Woburn, Massachusetts Woburn ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,876 at the 2020 census. Woburn is located north of Boston. Woburn uses Massachusetts' mayor-council form of governme ...

to Rita and Bill Coyne. He attended public schools in Woburn, graduating from

Woburn Memorial High School Woburn Memorial High School (WMHS) is a public high school in Woburn, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Woburn Public Schools district and participates in the Middlesex League. It is home to the Tanners and Tannerettes and the nick ...

in 1976. In 1980, Coyne received a

Bachelor of Business Administration Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is a bachelor's degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of business administration and usually including advanced ...

degree from

University of Massachusetts Lowell The University of Massachusetts Lowell (UMass Lowell and UML) is a public research university in Lowell, Massachusetts, with a satellite campus in Haverhill, Massachusetts. It is the northernmost member of the University of Massachusetts public u ...

in Lowell, Massachusetts. For two years after graduation, Coyne worked as a bartender. In 1986. Coyne graduated with a

Master of Divinity For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and divi ...

degree from St. John's Seminary in Boston.

Priesthood

On June 7, 1986, Coyne was ordained into the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Boston by Cardinal

Bernard Law Bernard Francis Law (November 4, 1931 – December 20, 2017) was an American cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, known largely for covering up the serial rape of children by Catholic priests. He served as Archbishop of Boston, archprie ...

. Coyne's first assignment after ordination in 1986 was as

parochial vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

for St. Mary of the Hills Parish in

Milton, Massachusetts Milton is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States and an affluent suburb of Boston. The population was 28,630 at the 2020 census. Milton is the birthplace of former U.S. President George H. W. Bush, and architect Buckminster Fuller. ...

, staying there until 1989. In 1992, he earned his

Licentiate in Sacred Theology Licentiate in Sacred Theology ( la, Sacrae Theologiae Licentiatus; abbreviated STL) is the second of three ecclesiastical degrees in theology (the first being the Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology and the third being the Doctorate in Sacred Theol ...

and in 1994 his Doctor of Sacred Liturgy degree from the

Pontifical Liturgical Institute The Pontifical Liturgical Institute in Rome, located at Sant'Anselmo on the Aventine Hill, promotes the study of the Sacred Liturgy. It is entrusted to the Benedictine Confederation, and has the role of training professors of liturgy and liturgi ...

in Rome. In 1994, Coyne was appointed director of the pre-theology program at St. John's Seminary. In 2004, he became an adjunct faculty member there. Coyne became director in 2000 for the Office of Worship for the archdiocese. In 2002, Coyne became cabinet secretary for communications and archdiocesan spokesman in the middle of the sex abuse scandal in the Archdiocese of Boston. According to Coyne, he turned down the archbishop's offer twice. On accepting the job, Coyne said he told Archbishop Law that he would not lie or disparage victims and wanted full access to archdiocese records. In 2002, Coyne was appointed pastor of Our Lady Help of Christians Parish in

Newton, Massachusetts Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately west of downtown Boston. Newton resembles a patchwork of thirteen villages, without a city center. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the population of Ne ...

. 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. On February 1, 2003, 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 Westwood is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 16,266 at the time of the 2020 United States Census. History Westwood was first settled in 1641 and was part of the town of Dedham, originally called 'West De ...

Auxiliary Bishop of Indianapolis

In January 2011,

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

named Coyne as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis and titular bishop of Mopta. On March 2, 2011, he was consecrated in St. John the Evangelist Church in

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

. Coyne was the first auxiliary bishop in the archdiocese since 1933. Also in March 2011, Coyne was named

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop's ...

, a post he would hold until 2016. On September 21, 2011, Coyne was appointed the

apostolic administrator An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

for the archdiocese by Benedict XVI. This was due to the early retirement of Archbishop Daniel Buechlein due to ill health. Coyne served as apostolic administrator until the installation of Archbishop

Joseph Tobin Joseph Tobin (born 1950) is the Elizabeth Garrard Hall Professor of Education in the College of Education at the University of Georgia. Biography Tobin received his B.A. Degree from Earlham College and his PhD in Human Development at the Univer ...

in 2012. In November 2014, Coyne was elected chairman of the Committee on Communication of the

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States. Founded in 1966 as the joint National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and United States Catholic Conference (US ...

(USCCB).

Bishop of Burlington

On December 22, 2014,

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

named Coyne as Bishop of the Diocese of Burlington. His installation occurred on January 29, 2015. On September 28, 2016, Coyne waived the

non-disclosure agreement A non-disclosure agreement (NDA) is a legal contract or part of a contract between at least two parties that outlines confidential material, knowledge, or information that the parties wish to share with one another for certain purposes, but wish ...

s 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 Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the ...

that verified sexual abuse crimes at St. Joseph's. Coyne remarked:

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.

References

External links

Diocese of Burlington

Diocese of Burlington information page on Bishop Coyne

Bishop Coyne's blog
} {{DEFAULTSORT:Coyne, Christopher J. 1958 births Living people People from Woburn, Massachusetts Pontifical North American College alumni Pontifical Atheneum of St. Anselm alumni 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis Roman Catholic bishops of Burlington Catholics from Massachusetts