Chris Healy, the politically savvy operative and former leader of the state Republican Party, will become the chief lobbyist for the Catholic Church in Connecticut.
“The challenges and opportunities facing the Archdiocese, and all people of faith, will be heightened for the foreseeable future,” Healy said in a written statement. “I consider it my charge to help church leaders accentuate the positive, motivate and inspire church members to join this effort in service to God, and influence elected leaders to respect the separation of church and state and to not threaten God-given rights.”
Healy will replace Michael C. Culhane as executive director of the Connecticut Catholic Conference.
Hartford Archbishop Leonard P. Blair expressed “confidence and optimism in the experience that Mr. Healy brings to the organization, and the positive impact that he will undoubtedly make.”
After growing up on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, Healy attended The Gunnery, a boarding school in Washington, Conn. He graduated from Denison University and worked as a newspaper reporter before jumping into partisan politics in the late 1980s as an advisor to former Torrington Mayor Delia Donne.
Healy later served as press secretary to former U.S. Rep. Gary Franks of Waterbury and helped run the Connecticut campaign operations of presidential contenders Bob Dole and John McCain. In 2012, he ran the congressional campaign of Lisa Wilson-Foley, who later pleaded guilty to conspiring to conceal payments to former Gov. John Rowland.
Long known as a colorful, bomb-throwing partisan who relished the public give and take of campaigns, Healy’s most recent job was more behind-the-scenes as a strategist for the Senate Republican caucus.
In announcing the appointment, officials with the archdiocese acknowledge that Healy “has been closely connected with the Republican Party in various roles, but he is known as someone who enjoys respect across the political spectrum, with years of experience as a government and public relations manager and lobbyist at various firms.”
Culhane has led the Connecticut Catholic Conference for the past 11 years. overseeing many political battles on behalf of the church. In 2009, he helped orchestrate the opposition to a proposed bill that would have taken power from Catholic priests and bishops and turned it over to parishioners. More than 4,000 outraged Catholics came to the Capitol to protest what they considered legislative meddling in church affairs and the proposal was quickly scrapped.
Culhane also lobbied successfully against other bills the church opposed, including repeated attempts over the past few years to pass legislation that would have allowed terminally ill patients to seek a doctor’s help in ending their lives. But the church has had less success on a number of other social issues, such as trying to stop gay marriage or pass a law requiring minors to notify their parents before obtaining an abortion.
Culhane said he was driven by faith as he navigated the political complexities of the Capitol. “Regardless of the forces that we’re confronting, I always remind our team to ‘keep the faith.'” he said.