In the 17th and much of the 18th century, Puritan ministers in the British Province of Connecticut were vociferously anti-Catholic in their writings and preaching.

The second bishop of Norwich was Reverend Vincent Hines of the Archdiocese of Hartford, appointed by John XXIII in 1959.

[7] He also named the first nun to head a diocesan school system in Connecticut, and established a retirement program for priests.

In 1975, Pope Paul VI appointed Reverend Daniel Reilly of the Diocese of Providence as the third bishop of Norwich.

In 2004, Côté became embroiled in a dispute with Justinian B. Rweyemamu, the parochial vicar at St. Bernard Parish in Rockville, Connecticut.

After Rweyemamu filed a complaint with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Cote removed him from his parish and his position as chaplain, allegedly in retaliation.

Cote said he removed Rweyemamu due to his refusal to answers any questions about Bugurka Orphans and Community Economic Development, his private charity in Tanzania, and the content of some of his homilies.

He mentioned that the diocese was slowly distributing US$430,892 collected from parishioners in January of that year to prevent waste and misappropriation.

[11] Pope Francis announced on September 3, 2024, that he had accepted Cote's resignation, submitted on his 75th birthday as required, and appointed Hartford Archbishop Christopher J. Coyne as apostolic administrator for the diocese.

[21] He cited 60 sexual abuse cases against the diocese related to the former Mount Saint John School in Deep River as the reason for the bankruptcy filing.