Agony in Albany - The Roman Catholic Faithful

Roman Catholic Faithful, Inc. / AMDG May 2004 Albany newslettereven get him to give the benediction at our annualright-to-life dinner — the largest event of its kind inthe area.”Because Griesemer publicly complainedabout Bishop Hubbard’s lack of interest in the abortionissue, he claims that there was an attempt by theDiocese to have him fired from his position withRight-to-Life.A Parish ScandalIn 1987, Griesemer had a phone conversationwith Chancellor Michael Farano, in which he tried toclarify the reasons Schenectady Right-to-Life wouldnot be allowed to continue putting its newsletters inlocal churches.According to Griesemer, “Farano threatenedme, saying, ‘If you ever accuse this Diocese of beingsoft on abortion, I will get you publicly and privately.I will massacre you.’ That’s quote-unquote.”In April, 1988, Farano wrote a “confidential”letter to Geraldine Oftedahl, chairman of the NewYork State Right-to-Life Committee, complaining ofGriesemer’s “attacks on the Bishop’s pro-life record,”and saying that Griesemer “opposes the Bishop onvirtually every stand the Bishop takes.” Farano hopedthat she could do something about him.Griesemer is still in his position withSchenectady Right-to-Life, and in the fall of 1990 hewrote a letter to Bishop Hubbard advising him of asituation in his parish. Two families were publiclysupporting a militantly pro-abortion political candidate.In one family, the husband is both a lectorand a eucharistic minister in the parish, and in theother family, the wife is a eucharistic minister. Griesemerfirst tried to persuade his fellow parishionersthat they should not support the pro-abortion candidate.Then he tried to convince his pastor that it wasinappropriate for two such visible parish lay people tobe publicly perceived as pro-abortion. When theseattempts got nowhere, he wrote to the Bishop, askinghim to show some strong pastoral leadership to endthis scandal in his parish.Bishop Hubbard responded by saying that he“can well appreciate the difficulty which you present.. . .“You have validly pointed out one of the seriousproblems of our times; namely, the obligation wehave as Christians to transform every aspect of ourlives in terms of the Gospel. I and those in leadershippositions in our Diocese consistently strive not tomiss any opportunity to educate people along theselines. . . .”Griesemer’s response to that letter: “Hubbardis a master at ignoring what you have to say.”In addition to his pro-life work, Bob Griesemerand his wife Lorraine are leading a campaign tobring Eucharistic Adoration to Schenectady.“Schenectady leads abortions in the CapitalDistrict,” he said, “and we thought that maybe one ofthe best ways to combat it would be to establish EucharisticAdoration in our parishes.“We’re still running into roadblocks. It’s refusedby the priests, it’s not promoted by the Bishop. .. .In one parish, we were told it would interfere withthe cleaning of the church.”SECTION II“We’re all syncretizing here,” says Tom Coffeyof the “ecumania” in the Diocese of Albany.His files are bulging with news clippings detailingthe ecumenical initiatives taken by BishopHubbard over the years, and these include the practiceof allowing diocesan priests to concelebrate Masswith Protestant ministers, offering Communion tonon-Catholics, as well as many well-publicized ecumenical“events” in the cathedral.There is also the use of the diocesan newspaper,The Evangelist, to promote other religions —including Buddhism and Native American spirituality(growing rapidly in the Capital District region) — andto downplay the differences between Catholic andProtestant beliefs.Interfaith services, not only among Christianchurches, but also among other religions, are encouraged.On Sunday, Oct. 28th, 1990, Bishop Hubbardhosted a “worship service” at the Cathedral of theImmaculate Conception that opened with a Hinduchant in Sanskrit; involved a rabbi who blew his shofar;permitted a Buddhist monk to drum his prayer;had a reading from the Koran by a Muslim; allowed aChristian woman to perform a liturgical dance; andhad a prayer from a Protestant minister.One woman in the audience, a Muslim whohad converted from Catholicism, told The AlbanyTimes Union reporter covering the event, “I never62