Pope Leo XIV names Bishop Mark O'Connell as new Bishop of Albany NY

 

Boston Auxiliary Bishop Mark W. O'Connell is pictured in a Feb. 6, 2024, photo. Pope Leo XIV on Oct. 20, 2025, appointed Bishop O'Connell to succeed Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger of Albany, N.Y., 77, whose resignation he accepted the same day. (OSV News photo by Gregory L. Tracy/ The Pilot)

Pope Leo XIV names new bishop of Albany

WASHINGTON (OSV News) — Pope Leo XIV has accepted the resignation of Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger, 77, from the pastoral governance of the Diocese of Albany, New York, and has appointed Auxiliary Bishop Mark W. O’Connell of Boston as his successor.

The resignation and appointment were announced by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the U.S., in Washington Oct. 20.

“I have had the blessing over the last year to work with Bishop Mark O’Connell,” Boston Archbishop Richard G. Henning said. “He is a remarkably capable man and very humble. He loves people and he loves the priests of our Archdiocese.”

Archbishop Henning said that Bishop O’Connell has “served Boston joyfully and effectively for decades. While we are sorry to lose him here in Boston we rejoice with the clergy, religious, and lay faithful of the Diocese of Albany. We are sending you our best and wishing you and your new bishop every blessing!”

Bishop O’Connell will be installed as Albany’s 11th bishop on Dec. 5.

Bishop O’Connell has served in the Archdiocese of Boston for 30 years

Ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Boston in 1990, then-Father O’Connell served in parish, seminary and tribunal roles before being named an auxiliary bishop of Boston June 3, 2016. He was ordained a bishop on Aug. 24 of that year. He chose the Latin “Invenimus Messiam,” or “We found a Messiah” as his episcopal motto.

Bishop O’Connell, 61, was born in Toronto to Thomas F. and Margaret M. (Delaney) O’Connell, both American citizens. His father was the head librarian at York University in Toronto. When the future bishop was 12, the family moved back to Massachusetts, with his father taking a job at Boston College.

After studying philosophy at Boston College and theology at St. John Seminary in Brighton, Bishop O’Connell obtained a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome.

He was ordained a priest on June 16, 1990, for the Archdiocese of Boston. Among his assignments, he was parochial vicar of St. Barbara in Woburn and of St. Mary of the Annunciation in Danvers from 1990 to 1997; he was a college chaplain in Salem and assistant judicial vicar of the archdiocese between 2002-2007.

He was a professor of canon law at St. John Seminary (2006-2016) and vice chancellor and judicial vicar (2007-2016).

On June 3, 2016, he was appointed titular bishop of Gigti and auxiliary bishop of Boston, and was ordained a bishop on Aug. 24 of that year. He chose the Latin “Invenimus Messiam,” or “We found a Messiah” as his episcopal motto.

New York Cardinal Dolan welcomes Bishop O’Connell; sends his best wishes to Bishop Scharfenberger

New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan said he joined the clergy, religious and faithful of the Diocese of Albany in welcoming Bishop O’Connell.

“I look forward to working with him on behalf of God’s people here in the Empire State,” the cardinal said, adding his gratitude to Bishop Scharfenberger. “Bishop Ed has been a wise and trusted colleague, and I am confident that even as he relinquishes his administrative duties, he will continue his priestly and apostolic ministry. May he enjoy a long and fruitful retirement.”

Bishop Scharfenberger was a leader in responding to the clergy abuse crisis

Bishop Scharfenberger served in the Diocese of Albany since April 10, 2014. In his time as bishop of Albany, Bishop Scharfenberger has been a national leader in responding to the clergy abuse crisis.

He published a list of offenders in the diocese in 2015, was among the first bishops in the country to call for an independent lay-led investigation of the scandal involving former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, revamped the diocesan review board, and established a predominantly lay task force on sexual abuse to make recommendations to the diocese on its response to survivors and its internal policies.

Bishop Scharfenberger serves as a consultor to the Pontifical Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews and has served on several committees of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The Diocese of Albany comprises 10,419 square miles in the state of New York and has a total population of just over 1.4 million. The diocese has a Catholic population of 316,275.

A retired Bishop decides to marry in a civil ceremony. Words fail.

 

BISHOP HUBBARD MARRIES IN CIVIL CEREMONY

Vatican turned down his request to be laicized; Bishop Scharfenberger calls the news 'unexpected'

Retired Bishop Howard J. Hubbard of Albany, N.Y., is seen in this 2013 file photo. (CNS photo/courtesy Nate Whitchurch via Diocese of Albany) (Courtesy photo of Nathan Whitchurch)

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After his request to be laicized was turned down by the Vatican earlier this year, Bishop Emeritus Howard J. Hubbard of the Diocese of Albany announced in a statement Aug. 1 that he was married in a civil ceremony.

“Last fall, after prayerful consideration and consultation, I applied to the Vatican to be returned to the lay state and to be relieved of my clerical obligations. In March, I received notice from the Vatican that my request had been denied,” Bishop Hubbard said in the statement titled, ‘A Letter to My Dear Colleagues and Friends.’ "I was encouraged to wait patiently and prayerfully and to continue to abstain from public ministry until seven civil lawsuits against me alleging sexual misconduct had been adjudicated.

“Shortly thereafter, the Diocese of Albany declared bankruptcy, as have six of the eight other Dioceses in New York State. I have been advised that it may be several years before the Albany bankruptcy case is settled and all of the Child Victims Act civil lawsuits adjudicated. Presently, I am 84 years of age and will turn 85 in October. I could be 91 or 92 before these legal matters are concluded.

“In the meantime, I have fallen in love with a wonderful woman who has helped and cared for me and who believes in me. She has been a loving and supportive companion on this journey. After much prayerful reflection, we decided to marry and did so in July in a civil ceremony.”

Shortly after Bishop Hubbard released his statement, Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger of the Diocese of Albany responded with his own statement to the faithful on the marriage.

“This certainly is unexpected news and like many of you, I am just now beginning to process it. While he is not permitted to represent himself as a priest or perform the sacraments in public, Bishop Hubbard remains a retired bishop of the Roman Catholic Church. The Church does not acknowledge his marriage as valid,” Bishop Scharfenberger said in the statement.

“I urge you to pray for all survivors of sexual abuse and their families. Pray for all of the faithful in the diocese. Pray for our priests, deacons, the men and women religious, many of whom depended on Bishop Hubbard for their vocations. Also pray for Bishop Hubbard and all in his close circle, that they can help to guide him to act in accordance with God's will.

“This is a challenging time for many, but we are not alone. Let us remember that through the turmoil, the one constant for all of us is the comforting presence of Jesus, who shepherds us with the promise of everlasting life. Let us journey together, as a people of faith, believing that with God, in God and through God, healing is possible.

It is an extremely rare move for a bishop to ask the Vatican to be laicized, be turned down, and then get married in a civil ceremony. If a bishop or priest is laicized, it is usually for their mishandling or complicity in the clergy abuse crisis, most notably former Cardinal and Bishop Theodore McCarrick, who was laicized in 2019. Bishop Janusz Wiesław Kaleta, of Poland, was laicized by the Vatican in 2016 after it was discovered he had a relationship with a woman and had frozen several embryos. All of the sacraments that Bishop Hubbard had previously celebrated over the decades are valid prior to his marriage.

In the close of his statement, Bishop Hubbard said he hoped and prayed for four things.

“As I look to the future, I hope and pray for four things: (1) That survivors of clergy sexual abuse and their families will find the peace, healing and reconciliation to which they are entitled; (2) That I will have the opportunity to prove my innocence to the allegations against me before a court of law, (3) That with whatever time God continues to grant me on this Earth, our marriage will be one of fidelity, love and service, and (4) that the Vatican will eventually grant me laicization and recognize our marriage.

“I want to express my profound gratitude to my friends and colleagues and the people of our Diocese for the love, care and concern you have shown me in my nearly 60 years of priestly service, 46 as a bishop, and for the wonderful fraternal bond I have enjoyed with my brother bishops and priests, deacons and the religious women and men who have served in our Diocese, the laity and the interfaith and civic leaders with whom I was privileged to serve. As I enter this new phase of my life as a retired private person, I humbly ask that the news media and others respect our privacy as a couple. My life on the public stage has come to an end. To all of you, I thank you with the words of my episcopal motto, ‘Rejoice, we are God’s people.’

“God bless you all.”

The Evangelist reported on Nov. 18, 2022 that Hubbard had asked the Vatican to be returned “to the lay state.”

“Recently, I asked the Vatican for relief from my obligations as a priest and permission to return to the lay state. In whatever time I have left on this Earth, I hope to be able to serve God and the people of our community as a lay person,” Bishop Hubbard said at the time. “I also will continue to vigorously defend myself against the allegations against me. Resolution of these civil cases takes a very long time. I hope and pray I will live long enough to see my name cleared once and for all.”

According to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, laicization is “the process by which a priest is returned to the lay state. It is sometimes used as a penalty for a serious crime or scandal, but more often it comes at the request of the priest. A laicized priest is barred from all priestly ministry with one exception: He may give absolution to someone in immediate danger of death.”

Bishop Hubbard, who was Bishop of the Diocese of Albany from 1977-2014, has been accused of alleged sexual abuse and has been named in seven civil lawsuits under the Child Victims Act (CVA). Bishop Hubbard has vehemently denied he abused anyone saying in 2019 after he was named in a second lawsuit that “I have never sexually abused anyone of any age at any time.”

In March 2022, as first reported in the Times Union, in deposition testimony that was made public that month, Hubbard - who was involved in a car accident July 19, 2022, in which it was determined that he suffered a stroke - was questioned by an attorney representing people who had filed claims of abuse against the Diocese of Albany under the CVA. Asked why he did not report a suspected case of child sexual abuse to law enforcement when he was bishop after a priest allegedly admitted to him that he had abused a child, Hubbard replied, “Because I was not a mandated reporter. I don’t think the law then or even now requires me to do it. Would I do it now? Yes. But did I do it then? No.”

In 2019, Pope Francis issued the motu proprio "Vos Estis Lux Mundi" ("You are the light of the world"), which was a mechanism for how the church should deal with the abuse crisis, which included the investigations of bishops. In 2021, the Diocese of Albany confirmed to Catholic News Agency that Hubbard would be investigated under “Vos Estis.” The investigation was done by the Archdiocese of New York and Cardinal Timothy Dolan. In 2022, it was reported by The Pillar, a news website that focuses on the Catholic Church, and the Times Union that attorneys representing a plaintiff who filed a civil suit against Hubbard wanted access to the more than 1,400-page report but the Archdiocese of New York claimed in court that the records of the investigation are protected by the First Amendment.

In New York, this local diocese has banned some Latin Masses

 

Albany Diocese bans Latin Masses following new guidance from the Vatican

   By Tyler Arnold for CNA

Washington D.C., Feb 27, 2023 / 17:28 pm (CNA).

The Diocese of Albany, New York, has at least temporarily banned the Traditional Latin Mass at two parishes to comply with an order issued by the Vatican last week.

Effective immediately, parish churches in the diocese are prohibited from celebrating the Latin Mass in accordance with the “Missale Romanum” of 1962, according to a statement from the diocese.

“In light of the rescript, which the Vatican sent last week, the celebration of the Usus Antiquior [Traditional Latin Mass] is currently on hold in parish churches in the Albany Diocese,” the diocese noted in a statement provided to CNA. “As we explore various possibilities, the Usus Antiquior can continue at Our Lady of Martyrs Shrine in Auriesville, which is not a parish church in the diocese.”

Holy Family Parish in Little Falls, which offered the Latin Mass at noon on Sundays and at 8 a.m. on Wednesdays, cannot celebrate the ancient form of the Mass for the time being. St. Ann’s Church in Fort Ann, which offered the Latin Mass on certain weekdays, was also informed it can no longer celebrate this form of the Mass.

At this time, the only church within the diocese that can offer the Latin Mass in accordance with the Missale Romanum of 1962 is the Our Lady of Martyrs Shrine in Auriesville. The shrine is currently closed until May. The diocese is also home to a Carmelite rite church: St. Joseph Church in Troy. The Carmelite rite has a unique liturgical tradition that celebrates an older form of the Mass in Latin, which is distinct from the “Missale Romanum” of 1962. According to the diocese, the Carmelite rite’s liturgy is not subject to the Vatican’s restrictions. The church offers a Latin Mass at noon on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

On July 16, 2021, Pope Francis issued a motu proprio titled Traditionis custodes, which directed bishops to designate locations for the celebration of the Latin Mass but added that those locations not be within parish churches. Many bishops offered dispensations for parishes that already had thriving Latin Mass communities. On Feb. 21, Cardinal Arthur Roche, who serves as the prefect for the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, issued a clarification, known as a rescript. The rescript clarified that all dispensations must be approved by the Vatican and ordered any bishop who had already issued dispensations to inform the dicastery, which will evaluate individual cases.

CNA reached out to Holy Family Parish and St. Ann’s Church but did not receive a response by the time of publication. However, one Holy Family parishioner, Fred Simon, told CNA that he is requesting prayers.

“We are living through historic and unprecedented times and the best thing we can do — and I’m asking everyone to do so — is pray for our bishops and priests,” Simon said.

The effect of Cardinal Roche’s rescript is still unclear, as many bishops have yet to clearly indicate what they will do next. However, some bishops have already sought and received Vatican approval for dispensations. These dispensations, however, are not permanent but instead only granted for a limited period of time. For example, the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, was approved for two-year dispensations for three parishes that offer the Traditional Latin Mass:  St. Anthony Mission in King George County, St. Rita in Alexandria, and St. John the Beloved in McLean. When that time is up, the dispensations will expire and will need the Vatican’s approval to be extended.

Some bishops have sought to accommodate Latin Mass goers in other ways. For example, Bishop Thomas Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield, Illinois, redesignated a parish church that offers the Latin Mass, Sacred Heart, as a non-parish church to skirt the restrictions. Bishop Robert Barron of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, designated a new chapel for the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass that was not inside a parish church.