Agony in Albany - The Roman Catholic Faithful

Roman Catholic Faithful, Inc. / AMDG May 2004 Albany newsletterFr. James Kane, director of the Diocese’s Commissionfor Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, fourdays earlier. The pro-lifers were seeking to convincethem that Rev. Lamar’s appearance at the cathedralwould cause grave scandal to Albany Catholics, andincrease Lamar’s prestige in the community.The position of the chancery was that Rev.Lamar was the most suitable “homilist” because hewas a “leader” in ecumenical affairs.One of those criticizing the choice of Rev.Lamar was Rev. David Ketchen, pastor of theDuanesburg Reformed Presbyterian Church, whoasked how the local Catholic Church could make“common cause” with a religious body that heldviews inimical to all that the Catholic Church teaches.He pointed out that his own church had brokenaway from the mainline Presbyterian body notonly because of its pro-abortion position, but also becauseof its rejection of core teachings, such as thedivinity of Christ, the Virgin Birth, and the bodilyResurrection of Christ. He also said it seemed strangethat most of the Diocese’s ecumenical relations wereconducted with “leftist-liberal” denominations.Fr. Kane responded that Bishop Hubbard’secumenical outreaches to Evangelical and fundamentalistchurches were always rejected by members ofthose bodies who feel hostility to the Catholic Faith.The dialog with the chancery officials did notlead to the withdrawal of Rev. Lamar’s invitation, andAlbany Catholics claimed to have one more exampleof Bishop Hubbard’s willingness to accommodatepro-abortion spokesmen.The coalition said that Lamar’s appearancewas part of a pattern in the Albany Diocese, wheremany prominent pro-abortion advocates have beengiven access to Catholic churches and facilities, whileit never sponsored a nationally known pro-life figure.Lamar’s appearance was especially painful tothem, they said, because it occurred almost immediatelyafter the American Bishops in Baltimore hadagreed to dedicate themselves to giving a more forcefulwitness against abortion.“A Masterful Politician”Bishop Howard Hubbard takes umbragewhen he is accused of being soft on the issue of abortion.In fact, when ex-Jesuit Fr. Joseph O’Rourke,a former priest from Albany and one-time presidentof Catholics for a Free Choice, told a television audiencein 1980 that Bishop Hubbard “is a supporter offree choice on abortion. He is effectively a neutralvoice in public, but behind the scenes he has activelysupported the free choice position in New Yorkstate,” Bishop Hubbard threatened to sue him.Since 1979, however, Albany area Catholicshave publicly complained to the local press aboutBishop Hubbard’s “softness” on abortion, his closepublic relations and diocesan involvement withPlanned Parenthood, his unwillingness to lobby theState Legislature on the issue or to challenge Gov.Mario Cuomo’s position on abortion rights and Medicaidfunding, and his reluctance to appear in public atpro-life events.Robert Griesemer is the chairman of theSchenectady Chapter of New York State Right toLife, the largest anti-abortion group in the CapitalDistrict. The father of ten children, he quit his jobwith AT&T to devote all his time to the pro-lifecause. He has no doubt the Bishop has put abortionon “the back burner.”“I would have to say at the outset that ourBishop does not support abortion,” Griesemer toldThe Wanderer, “but I will tell you what I have said onmany other occasions.“I consider Bishop Hubbard to be a liberalDemocrat first, and a Catholic Bishop second. Thathelps explain a lot of things in this Diocese.“He is a political animal, a masterful politician,a consensus builder. He says he wants to be aBishop, ‘in a circle.’ He has an obligation to teachand to do certain things, but he is more concernedwith his ecumenical contacts and his friends in highplaces.“He has been manipulated and used by ecumenicalgroups. Every ecumenical figure he has metwith is a flaming pro-abortionist. He’s batting 1,000.“Protestant pro-life leaders say to me, ‘Howmuch support do you get from your Bishop?,’ and Isay, ‘None.’ They are shocked. . . .“I’d have to compare the Bishop to a lousyparent, one who is afraid to tell a child what’s wrong,because the child will not like that. The Bishop is soafraid that people won’t like him.“He hobnobs with Cuomo; he hobnobs withLamar; he hobnobs with Rabbi Martin Silverman, aboard member of Planned Parenthood, and we can’t61