Former Buffalo Bishop Mansell dies

Buffalo, NY (WBEN) Henry Mansell, Buffalo's12th Catholic bishop, died in Hartford where he served as archbishop for a decade. He was 88.

"I still have the greatest respect for him," says Mansell's priest secretary, Msgr. David LiPuma of OLV. "Bishop Mansell 24/7 was always thinking about the good of the Diocese, the people, the priests, the religious, everyone he, he, he never took a vacation. I can tell you that he, he worked 24/7, but he was extremely a very humble, dedicated man, a man of deep faith.."

LiPuma says Mansell oversaw the formation of the Catholic Health System, which without Mansell feared the region might lose all of its Catholic hospitals. But he says that's only part of Mansell's legacy. "He also saw us through the restoration of St Joseph cathedral, and I was with him every step of the way through all of that, really restoring it to its beautiful splendor that it is today that was all his vision, and he he loved Western New York," adds LiPuma.

LiPuma says it was difficult for Mansell when he got the call to become the Archbishop of Hartford, to say goodbye and to let go. "Being a man of obedience and trust and great respect for the Holy Father, he immediately said yes when he was given that call. It just speaks again to His character, His love for the church, but he just overall," says LiPuma. He adds Mansell also led the We Are Catholic, Let it Show campaign in 1997.

LiPuma says one of his fondest memories was when Mansell wanted to go to Poland for the Eucharistic Congress. "At first I thought, 'Okay, I'll set something up for you.' And he said, 'No, and I want you to go. So I set up a trip for the two of us to go to Poland.' And that was one of the very moving experiences, because he understood the Western New York, the great Polish culture here, and he wanted to demonstrate his own desire to go and learn more," recalls LiPuma. "I can tell you, this is a funny thing to me, but when we got there, there was I had hired a driver and a guide, an interpreter for us. And he was an older gentleman, and it was amazing how much history that Archbishop, Bishop Mansell knew at the time about everything. So he, he studied well, and just we had some great moments. But he, he was always very supportive, very encouraging."

LiPuma says Mansell had a good sense of humor too. "People may not have seen it all the time, but I always I enjoyed his his humor," adds LiPuma.

He also says Mansell had quite a memory. "We would go to a parish to visit, and I would give him a list of the I would give most of the trees that were there, but he would want to know first and last names. He'd want to know the parish trustees. If there was a school, he wanted to know the principal's name, the DRE and then when he would get to these celebrations, he would name everyone by name, without a note in front of him. So he had an incredible, incredible memory, and that that is something I think most people will recall, that he was able to just remember people's names and call them by name."

Mansell passed away in Hartford, where he served as archbishop until 2013.