Posted on 04/26/2016 6:20:14 AM PDT by marshmallow
While I was the publisher and editor of Crisis Magazine, I chronicled the plight of the Albany Diocese in Upstate, NY under the former leadership of now Bishop Emeritus Howard J. Hubbard. His stewardship of the diocese was a test case in the failures of the progressive policies of many churchmen during the seventies and eighties that left dioceses throughout the country beset by dwindling Mass attendance, little or no vocations to the priestly and religious life and sex scandals which metastasized into a full blown scandal in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s.
Things were so awful under Hubbard and his Chancery staff that in 2013, Albany, NY was ranked as #1 among the most “post-Christian” cities in the U.S. by the Barna Group.
Enter in 2014, Bishop Edward B. Schafenberger, on the surface he had the perfect curriculum vitae that the more orthodox faithful were looking for to restore some of what had been lost under the Hubbard regime. “Monsignor Ed,” as his parishioners at St. Matthias in Queens called him, did stints in the diocesan curia there serving in many roles, culminating in 2013 when he was named Episcopal Vicar for Queens. The Brooklyn native seemed born for the role; his father was a salesman of church goods.
Upon his arrival in Albany, Bishop Scharfenberger burnished his credentials with the pro-life community by participating in lay initiatives like the Rosary Walk for Life that he did around the State Capital and joining them at local Planned Parenthoods for Prayer Vigils. These were important steps to take because Bishop Hubbard had all but ignored the pro-life community for years choosing rather to focus on social justice issues.
But in perusing the the Albany Diocese website, I was shocked to find one of the signature......
(Excerpt) Read more at thechristianreview.com ...
Catholics in Albany Diocese have for the most part given up on the leftist, homosexual Catholic hierarchy.
Bishop Hubbard destroyed a vibrant, active Catholic culture. He closed over half the parishes and schools. He rejected sincere Catholics. He created a network of homosexual priests.
The remaining church goers are mostly elderly. The parishes are mostly in bad financial shape. There is a shortage of priests. Those few priests that remain are mostly either elderly and in poor health or homosexual.
Talk about going to Hell in a Hand basket.
But there is a new bishop there now!
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