HARTFORD (CT)
Houston Chronicle
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — An Ohio bishop will lead 700,000 Catholics as Hartford’s new archbishop, Pope Francis announced Tuesday.
Bishop Leonard Paul Blair, 64, has led the Catholic Diocese of Toledo since 2003.
He succeeds Hartford Archbishop Henry J. Mansell, who has served since 2003 and at 76 has passed the age of retirement. Mansell has said he had told Pope Benedict XVI he was willing to retire last year. Pope Francis accepted his retirement on Tuesday.
Blair, who was ordained a priest in 1976, will be installed as archbishop on Dec. 16.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.