CONNECTICUT
The Hartford Courant

By CHRISTOPHER HOFFMAN, Special to The Courant
The Hartford Courant
4:07 p.m. EDT, April 10, 2014

HARTFORD — If he had been asked two years ago what the Roman Catholic Church needed, Voice of The Faithful President Mark Mullaney would have replied, a pope in the mold of reformer John XXIII.

“John opened the windows, opened the doors, opened discussions,” he said of the pontiff who reigned from 1958 to 1963. “There’s a great need for that type of person.”

Mullaney and many others attending the group’s biannual assembly April 6 at the Hartford Convention Center clearly believed he had gotten his wish. Pope Francis’ explosion onto the world stage, his impact on Catholics and how he might reform the church dominated discussion among the more than 200 people from around the nation.

“What he is saying resonates with what we have been…