Agony in Albany - The Roman Catholic Faithful

Roman Catholic Faithful, Inc. / AMDG May 2004 Albany newsletterthe Church today,”The Bishop said that there is so much confusionon the Church’s moral teaching because mostadults have only “an eighth-grade knowledge of theirFaith.”(Others say, however, that it has to do withthe Diocese’s commitment to dissent. This will bediscussed at length in two articles in the upcomingseries.)The Times Union series, “while not sheddingany constructive light on diocesan organizations, accordingto Paul Kerin, “does show how the wholeChurch here is falling apart, and how the Bishop continuesto hasten the process.”Part IVCrisis in the Priesthood“There are Catholics who would be alive ifthey had priests who were spiritually alive” — ACatholic layman who would not allow his name to beused for this story. “Why are only certain priests promoted?”— An Albany priest“We're scared.”That feeling is shared by many priests in theDiocese of Albany, who are afraid to speak or actcontrary to the desires of their Bishop. This articlefocuses on their views and statements concerning thesituation in the Albany Diocese.“There was one priest who had a disagreementwith the Bishop, and the Bishop told him, ‘Wedon’t need you here. There is no shortage of priests.’That priest is now working in a restaurant,” one of hisbrother priests told The Wanderer.“What’s happening to the priesthood,” saidanother, “is heartbreaking.”A Sad FactIn talking about the crisis in the priesthood inthe Diocese of Albany with both priests and lay people,The Wanderer learned that there are many finepriests working in their parishes, doing an outstandingjob“There are many holy priests here,” said onelay woman, “who go about their duties quietly, butthe problem is that they are in such remote areas.”A sad fact, according to a number of priests,is that the choicest assignments go to priests whoshare Bishop Hubbard’s ecclesiology.“Priests who use the tried and true methodsthat produce results in parish life are frequently sentinto oblivion,” said one priest. There have been numerousinstances when orthodox priests were orderedby chancery officials never to say a word about birthcontrol or abortion in a church; if their liturgies werenot sufficiently “progressive” were assigned a deaconor a radical nun to ensure Masses were creative andinnovative; and, if they taught orthodox Catholicism,were prohibited from teaching religion classes.While most orthodox priests appear to beconfined to small, rural parishes, and seldom ever riseto a prominent pastorate —regardless of how longthey have been ordained — there is the public perceptionthat priests who flagrantly violate their celibacyrequirement (with men and/or women) receive thebest assignments.Item: A priest assigned to a parish about eightmiles north of Albany resides in a “brownstone” inAlbany with his male companion, in a part of the cityknown as “boys’ town” — about five or six blocksfrom the Bishop's residence.“Everyone knows about it, and it’s a mysterywhy the Bishop tolerates it,” said a priest. “Father***** is the classic example of a priest who took aleave of absence, but upon returning to Albany, gotan even better parish.”Item: Another priest, a “notorious homosexual,”lived with his companion in the rectory. Hespent thousands of dollars renovating it, but he causedsuch a scene there that he was sent away for“reconditioning.” When he came back, he repeatedthe same performance at another equally good parish,even putting his companion on the payroll. The parishionerswere outraged. The priest finally left thepriesthood to become a salesman.Item: “Notorious” doesn’t even describe anotherpriest who destroyed a large ethnic parish, andwas allegedly arrested by an undercover policeman,after the latter was propositioned. The priest was sentfor “reconditioning,” and then reassigned to the sameparish despite pleas from parishioners to the Bishop.Item: One priest who was a classmate ofBishop Hubbard was known throughout the area as apracticing homosexual. He was assigned to a parishregarded as one of the best in the entire Diocese. Thispriest left the priesthood after he went off with awoman who had worked in the parish. This defection37