Journey Of A Lifetime

Henry Joseph Mansell

  


  

Henry Joseph Mansell (born October 10, 1937) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church.  He was the fourth Archbishop of Hartford, having previously served as Bishop of Buffalo from 1995 to 2003. The Archbishop is believed by many in the Buffalo Diocese to have an eidetic memory. He can remember names of, for example, Confirmation candidates without note cards or assistance.

Henry Mansell was born in The Bronx to Henry and Bridget (née Finn) Mansell and baptized at St. Augustine's Church (Bronx) three weeks later. He has a sister, Ann.

Mansell attended SS Peter & Paul Elementary School in the South Bronx, NY graduating in 1951.

Mansell attended Cathedral College, the preparatory seminary of the Archdiocese of New York, in Manhattan from 1951-57, and then entered St. Joseph's Seminary, Dunwoodie, Yonkers where he earned a Bachelor's degree in 1959. He studied at the Pontifical North American College and the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, where he was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Martin O'Connor on December 19, 1962. He earned a Licentiate of Sacred Theology from the Gregorian in 1963, and did postgraduate work at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. until 1965.

Mansell served as a parish priest at parishes in Harrison, his native Bronx, and SS John and Paul parish in Larchmont. He was appointed director of the Office of Parish Councils on June 9, 1972, and Vice Chancellor of the Archdiocese of New York on July 1, 1985. On March 17, 1986, Mansell was made an Honorary Prelate of His Holiness. He later became director of Priest Personnel and Chancellor (1988) of the Archdiocese.

On November 24, 1992, Mansell was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of New York City and Titular Bishop of Marazanae by Pope John Paul II. He received his episcopal consecration on January 6, 1993 from Pope John Paul II himself, with Archbishops Giovanni Re and Justin Rigali serving as co-consecrators, in Rome. He selected as his episcopal motto, "Blessed be God" (Psalms 68:36).

Mansell was later named the twelfth Bishop of Buffalo on April 18, 1995. Succeeding the retiring Edward D. Head, he was formally installed on the following June 12 at St. Joseph's Cathedral.

During his tenure, Mansell visited every parish in the diocese, most of them multiple times. He also promoted Catholic education, and health care and social service institutes within the diocese. Mansell established the Catholic Health Care System of Western New York, uniting the resources of local Catholic hospitals, nursing homes, and other health care facilities. In 1996 he instituted the diocese's vicariate structure, and in 1997 he led the diocese in celebrating its 150th anniversary.

Mansell received honorary doctorates from Niagara University in May 1996, from St. Bonaventure University in August 1996, and from Canisius College in May 1997. In September 2003, Governor George Pataki named him to the State Commission on Education Reform, a group of education, business, and community leaders dedicated to reforming New York's education system. He instituted a televised "Daily Mass" celebrated from a chapel at St. Joseph Cathedral for the homebound.

Pope John Paul II promoted Mansell to the fourth Archbishop of Hartford, Connecticut, on October 20, 2003. He was installed on December 18 of that same year. On June 29, 2004, Archbishop Mansell received the pallium from Pope John Paul II in Rome.

Mansell is a proponent of the Traditional Latin Mass. Having reached the mandatory retirement age, Mansell submitted his resignation. Pope Francis accepted Archbishop Mansell's resignation from the pastoral care of the archdiocese on October 29, 2013,