THE MOST REVEREND HENRY J. MANSELL
BIOGRAPHY

Bishop Henry J. Mansell is a native of New York City and was born on October 10, 1937.

He attended SS. Peter and Paul School in the Bronx and the Cathedral Preparatory Seminary in New York City. He earned a bachelor’s degree from St. Joseph Seminary in Yonkers in 1959. He attended the North American College and the Gregorian University in Rome, Italy, where he earned a Licentiate in Sacred Theology in 1963. He did postgraduate work at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

He was ordained a priest on December 19, 1962, in Rome. He served as a parish priest in various parishes in New York City and Westchester County.

He was appointed director of the Office of Parish Councils in 1972.

In addition to serving on the first Archdiocesan Board of Catholic Education and on the Council of Conciliation for the Archdiocese of New York, he was appointed Vice Chancellor in 1985, Director of Priest Personnel, and three years later was appointed Chancellor of the Archdiocese.

Pope John Paul II appointed Bishop Mansell auxiliary bishop of New York in November 1992, and then ordained him a bishop in Rome on January 6, 1993.

Bishop Mansell was installed as the twelfth Bishop of Buffalo on June 12, 1995.

In September 1995, he began the practice of celebrating daily Mass at St. Joseph Cathedral. He also arranged to have this Mass videotaped each day and aired on cable channels.

Bishop Mansell visited every parish in the diocese, most of them multiple times. In 1996, he instituted the vicariate structure for the diocese to enable more effective administration and better service for people. Later he established a process of planning for the future of parishes in the diocese, using the vicariate structure as the instrument for the planning.

Throughout his tenure as Bishop of Buffalo, Bishop Mansell enjoyed a strong relationship with the Council of Priests, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious and the Diocesan Pastoral Council. He also worked closely with the Episcopal Vicars and the Bishop’s Council of the Laity.

He was a member of the Buffalo Niagara Partnership Board of Directors; their vision was to promote economic and community vitality in western New York.

It was in February 1996 that Bishop Mansell announced the formation of the Catholic Health System, bringing together Catholic hospitals, nursing homes, and other healthcare agencies operating within the diocese.

Bishop Mansell received honorary doctorates from Niagara University in May, and from St. Bonaventure University in August of that year.

Bishop Mansell launched the diocesan web site (http://www.buffalodiocese.org) on November 15, 1996.

He received an honorary doctorate of Humane Letters from Canisius College in May 1996, and in June of that same year he was given the Kenmore Mercy Foundation’s Sister Mechtilde Memorial Award for service.

Bishop Mansell instituted the practice of regular meetings with the presidents of the 7 Catholic Colleges and Universities in the diocese as well as the principals of the 16 Catholic High Schools.

In October 1997, Bishop Mansell introduced the Foundation of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo. This foundation began with a $2 million gift to the Fund for Education. In January 2001, the first Celebrate Catholic Education dinner was held. The annual event is a major fund-raising dinner for Catholic schools in the diocese.

He advanced financial support for Catholic schools each year and instituted a program for the certification of teachers within Catholic schools and in Religious Education programs for Catholic students in other schools. He also began the process for a strategic plan involving all the schools in the diocese.

In April of 1997 he began a series of events to mark the 150^th anniversary of the diocese. The celebration culminated in a Mass that Bishop Mansell celebrated at the Marine Midland Arena on October 25, 1997.

Also in 1997 he went to Poland for the Eucharistic Congress in Wroclaw, visiting various places in Poland to highlight the strong culture and traditions of the Polish people in the Diocese of Buffalo.

Bishop Mansell has also celebrated the contributions of the Italian, Irish and German people of the diocese by drawing attention to various feasts and historic developments.

From January 23-26, 1998, Bishop Mansell traveled to Cuba as part of Pope John Paul II’s visit to that island. While there Bishop Mansell met with Fidel Castro.

Bishop Mansell made his first “ad limina” visit as Bishop of Buffalo when he went to the Vatican on February 20^th of that year.

In May 1998, an increased giving campaign was begun, titled Stewardship in Faith. Its purpose was to obtain higher Sunday collections in parishes throughout the diocese. Results showed a 25% increase across the diocese. Phase II of Stewardship in Faith was launched in November 2001, and also met with successful results.

While in Buffalo, Bishop Mansell oversaw eight consecutive Catholic Charities appeals; each one exceeded an ever-higher goal.

He began the SS. Columba & Brigid Montessori School for inner-city children, which was officially opened in September of 1999.

Bishop Mansell doubled the capacity of the O’Hara Residence for Retired Priests in Tonawanda and built the Bishop Head Residence for Retired Priests in Lackawanna.

At St. Joseph Cathedral, Bishop Mansell developed the Blessed Sacrament Chapel and restored the Lady Chapel. In 1999, he supervised the renovation of the cathedral including the installation of a new altar.  In June 2001, the cathedral’s historic Hook and Hastings organ was rededicated following its complete restoration, marking the start of a four year sesquicentennial celebration of the cathedral.

He placed great emphasis on making St. Joseph Cathedral the heart of diocesan life and also an integral part of the renewal of life in downtown Buffalo. One example of this was the Spirit of Summer on Cathedral Green, a smorgasbord of events featuring music, song, dance, and acting.

He also opened the St. Joseph’s House next door to St. Joseph Cathedral, which provides a place for spiritual formation and educational programs as well as various discussion groups.

Under Bishop Mansell’s guidance and leadership, the “Come Home” program was established for people who have been separated from the Catholic Church.

Bishop Mansell expanded ministry to people of Hispanic descent, and recruited priests and seminarians from Columbia, South America. With particular concentration he strengthened ministry to the migrant workers in the northeastern part of the diocese.

He oversaw the construction of St. Martin De Porres Church in 1999. A primarily African American but integrated church, it was the first Catholic Church built in the city of Buffalo in 30 years.

More recently, he has designated Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Buffalo as a special parish for the Vietnamese people.  On December 24, 2000, Bishop Mansell celebrated the first Mass held in the first Korean church in the diocese. St. Andrew Kim Church is located in the refurbished convent behind

Cardinal O’Hara High School in the town of Tonawanda.

He encouraged a whole schedule of events and programs on the parish and diocesan level to observe the millennium year. He published the book, We Are Catholic: Let It Show: Open Wide the Doors to Christ, and the pamphlet, “Yes, I Am a Catholic: A Profile of a Catholic Adult,” to promote reflection for the millennium year.

Bishop Mansell created two new departments within the Catholic Center: the Development Office and the Office for Human Resources. He also began the Diocesan Service Corps, a diocesan equivalent to the U.S. Peace Corps, in 2001.

In July 2002, Bishop Mansell and about 500 pilgrims from the Diocese of Buffalo participated in World Youth Day 2002 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 

In September, Bishop Mansell presided over the opening of St. Dominic Savio Middle School in Niagara Falls, the first middle school opened in the diocese.

Bishop Mansell named a nine-member diocesan Review Board in October. Comprised mostly of lay people, the board advises the bishop on clergy sexual abuse cases.

In January 2003, Bishop Mansell traveled to Rome to present Pope John Paul II with the “Positio,” a 750-page summary of the life, virtues, and reputation of Father Nelson Baker, a diocesan priest whose cause for sainthood is being promoted by the Diocese of Buffalo. The Positio moves forward the cause of Father Baker’s beatification and canonization.

In July, the bishop appointed Kathryn Marsh, CSW, as diocesan assistance coordinator.  She is available to provide immediate pastoral assistance to sexual abuse victims. The bishop also implemented a new Safe Environment policy, which includes the sexual abuse awareness training of tens of thousands of people in the diocese who deal with children and young people. The bishop oversaw the revision of the diocesan sexual abuse policy.

In September, New York State Governor George Pataki named Bishop Mansell to the State Commission on Education Reform – a bipartisan group of education, business and community leaders that is working to reform New York State’s education system.

Also in September, Bishop Mansell cut the ribbon at the new Mary Queen of Angels School in Cheektowaga. The school was formed as a result of the merger between the former Our Lady Help of Christians and Queen of Martyrs schools.

Bishop Mansell served as vice-chairperson of the Public Policy Committee of the New York State Catholic Conference.

On the national level he has served as Treasurer of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, on their Administrative Board, and their Executive Committee.  He also has served on the USCCB Committee on Priorities and Plans, the Ad Hoc Committee on Health Care Issues and the Church, the Board of Governors for the North American College in Rome, and as Chair of the Finance Committee of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. He has served on the Ad Hoc Committee on Economic Concerns of the Holy See, the Committee on Personnel, and as a member of the Education Committee and as treasurer of CLINIC (Catholic Legal Immigrant Network Inc.) for three-year terms.

On October 20, Pope John Paul II named Bishop Mansell as the new Archbishop of Hartford. On December 18, he was installed during a special Mass at the Cathedral of St. Joseph as fourth Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Hartford.

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