Pope Francis Appoints New Archbishop of Hartford

By Ronald DeRosa 

Pope Francis has appointed Bishop Leonard Paul Blair as the fifth archbishop of the Archdiocese of Hartford, according to an announcement Tuesday morning.

Blair, 64, has been the bishop of the Diocese of Toledo since 2003. He was ordained a priest in 1976. He succeeds Henry J. Mansell, who has served as the archbishop of Hartford since 2003 and is past the age of retirement. 

The Archdiocese of Hartfordservices 700,000 Roman Catholicsin Hartford, New Haven and Litchfield counties and operates multiple schools, hospitals, food pantries and shelters.

Archbishop-designate Blair will be installed as the Archbishop of Hartford on Monday, Dec. 16 at the Cathedral of Saint Joseph in Hartford.

Blair will be officially introduced as the new archbishop during a press conference at the Archdiocesan Center at Saint Thomas Seminary in Bloomfield Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. The press conference will be streamed on the archdiocesan website at: archdioceseofhartford.org and ortv.org. It will also be broadcast live on WJMJ-FM Radio (88.9/Hartford, 93.1/Hamden, 107.1/New Haven). 

Mansell told WFSB's Face the State he was willing to retire last October when he turned 75, which is a requirement under canon law, however he received a letter from then-Pope Benedict XVI asking him to stay on.