Bishop Hart turned 75 last August, according to today’s announcement by the Vatican press office. Under canon law, bishops have to submit their resignation on turning 75.
Michael Cote was born June 19, 1949, in Sanford, Maine. He studied at St. Mary’s Seminary, Baltimore, Maryland; the Gregorian University, Rome; and the Catholic University of America. He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Portland on June 29, 1975.
He appointed auxiliary bishop of Portland on July 27, 1995.
The Diocese of Norwich has a Catholic population of about 225,000 out of a total population of about 633,000.
