coyne

New appointment in the diocese of Burlington, Vermont, where Auxiliary Bishop Christopher Coyne of Indianapolis has been named bishop.

Bishop Coyne, 56, is a prelate who believes in the digital world and became comfortable with social media when it was just becoming known. He evangelizes where young people can be found, on the Web.

As one of the first churchmen on the Web he started his own blog “Let us Walk Together: Thoughts of a Catholic Bishop.” He is chair-elect of the U.S. Bishops’ Committee on Communications, which means he also will become a member of the bishops’ Communications Committee, when he assumes chairmanship of the Communications Committee next year.

As a priest of the Boston Archdiocese he worked for Boston’s Catholic TV Network and was nominated for an Emmy Award.

Bishop Coyne was ordained for the Archdiocese of Boston and came to prominence as a spokesman for the Boston Archdiocese when it was under fire for Cardinal Bernard Law’s handling of sexual abuse of minors by clergy. Bishop Coyne’s competency in this role drew widespread attention. The native New Englander holds an undergraduate degree in business from University of Massachusetts-Lowell and graduate degrees in liturgical studies from Rome’s pontifical university San Anselmo.

 

Mary Ann Walsh, R.S.M., is America's U.S. Church Correspondent. She is responsible for planning and producing America’s coverage of the U.S. Church. In addition to feature writing, Sr. Walsh makes contributions to America’s blogs and other digital platforms and will wrote a column on the U.S. Church for the print edition. She served as a correspondent for Catholic News Service in Rome and Washington and as director of communications for World Youth Day in Denver in 1993. She then began her work in media relations for the U.S. bishops. She is an award-winning writer and has been published in The Washington Post, USA Today and Editor & Publisher, among others, and is the editor of three books:Pope John Paul II: A Light for the World; From John Paul II to Benedict XVI: An Inside Look at the End of an Era…; and Benedict XVI: Essays and Reflections on His Papacy.