Agony in Albany - The Roman Catholic Faithful

Roman Catholic Faithful, Inc. / AMDG May 2004 Albany newsletterwomen’s ordination, was still in his position as liturgydirector when Bishop Hubbard began his reign.He told the diocesan newspaper, The Evangelist, thatwomen were to be recruited for the traditional altarboy role, and would, it was hoped, be trained as adultacolytes.In 1978, women were being trained as acolytesas a preliminary to Confirmation in the AlbanyDiocese. The liturgical norm that women may notserve at the altar was interpreted by Fr. Joseph Cotugnoas meaning “women may not wash the hands ofthe priest.”The Evangelist also reported that BishopHoward Hubbard referred to girl altar boys as “altarpersons.”In 1980, lnaestimabile Donum stated thatgirls may not perform the roles of altar boys, and maynot be candle-bearers, cross-bearers, incense-bearers,and the like.In 1989, the Albany Diocese stated that theissue of altar girls is still being studied by the Vatican,but that parishes that employ altar girls have theAlbany Diocese’s blessing.Chancellor Michael Farano explained: “Thequestion of whether girls officially can be altar serversis still under study by the Vatican. And so the debategoes on. Yes you can, because the Vatican hasn’tsaid no, or no you can’t, because the Vatican hasn’tsaid yes. And it depends on which side of the questionyou want to come down on.”In February, 1991, diocesan spokesman andnow chancellor Fr. Randall Patterson, attempting todeflect criticism that Bishop Hubbard ‘wasn’t loyal toRome on the specific issue of altar girls, replied thatthe local Bishop has the right to decide whether girlsmay be altar servers.“In his push for the ordination of women, thefeminization of the liturgy was a primary goal,” a laymansaid, “and that’s why altar girls are so important.”The Boy Bishoplnaestimabile Donum, in the foreword, listeda number of abuses that Bishops were obliged to correct:“the confusion of roles, especially regarding thepriestly ministry and the role of the laity. . . an increasingloss of the sense of the sacred. . . misunderstandingof the ecclesial character of the liturgy.”It cited specific examples of false practicesfound in the Church, and stated, “None of thesethings can bring good results.”In May, 1987, Capital Region magazine publishedan article “The Boy Bishop Comes of Age” byJeremy Bloom, marking the 10th anniversary of theBishop’s installation.One of Bishop Hubbard’s favored priests, Fr.Michael Hogan, was introduced and quoted byBloom:“Hogan, who has known Bishop Hubbardsince their days together at St. Joseph’s Seminary inDunwoodie on Long Island (sic), articulates a themewith which Hubbard and most of the American Bishopswould probably agree. ‘I’m very loyal and affectionate—toward the Pope,’ he says. ‘I’m not terriblyloyal to the Vatican State and its bureaucracy. Thathas very little to do with the dying and rising of Jesus,the Eucharist, and love: it has to do with power, andlike all bureaucracies, it tends toward evil’.”That view, say Catholics here, epitomizes thechancery view of Roman liturgical directives.Bishop Hubbard And The Tridentine MassIn his 1980 Message of Love to the Catholicsof the Diocese of Albany, Bishop Howard Hubbardexplained why he wasn’t eager to be pastorally sensitiveto those attached to the Tridentine Mass.“I think the Tridentine Mass is a symbol onthe part of those who basically have rejected the reformsof the Second Vatican Council. I don’t thinkthere can be an accommodation to renege on the reformsof the Second Vatican Council.”Although his episcopacy has been characterizedby great “pastoral sensitivity” to groups and individualswho reject Catholic doctrine, and although hehas been very tolerant of the widespread liturgicalabuses in the Diocese, since 1984 when Pope JohnPaul II first requested that Bishops allow the celebrationof the Tridentine Mass, Bishop Hubbard has notshown much willingness to allow the TridentineMass.As of December, 1989, with the issuance of adecree on the implementation of Ecclesia Dei in theDiocese of Albany, two Tridentine Masses per monthare allowed in the Diocese, one Sunday each in twodifferent parishes.45