Archbishop Mansell installed as head of Hartford Archdiocese

Published: 2003-12-23

HARTFORD, Conn.(CNS) -- Amid solemn ritual and jubilant music, Archbishop Henry J. Mansell was installed as the fourth archbishop of Hartford by Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, apostolic nuncio to the United States. During his homily, Archbishop Mansell drew applause when he offered an apology to victims of sexual abuse by clergy. "We recognize in recent years the national scandal of sexual abuse of minors by clergy, and we recognize that while it pertains to a minimal percentage of the clergy we do know that one situation is too many," he said Dec. 18. "We pray that with the structures and the programs and the activities being put in place that we will never see this blight again. And we apologize across the country to every victim of sexual abuse by clergy. But we recognize further that we must go on," he said, drawing applause again.

Copyright (c) 2003 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .