Hubbard enemies plan 'pep rally'

Albany Times-Union ^ | April 23, 2004 | Michele Morgan Bolton

[sidewalk]

Hubbard enemies plan 'pep rally' Albany-- Church conservatives to speak to local group about removing bishop (Hubbard)

Two Midwestern conservative activists determined to unseat Bishop Howard Hubbard -- and any other Catholic bishop they believe is actively homosexual -- make a return trip to the Capital Region on May 8. Stephen Brady of Illinois, president of Roman Catholic Faithful, and Paul Likoudis, of the Minnesota Catholic newspaper The Wanderer, will speak at a daylong conference sponsored by the Coalition of Concerned Catholics of the Albany Diocese.

The event is called "Agony in Albany -- Leadership in Crisis."

"It's kind of a pep talk; where we go from here ... how we hope to accomplish Hubbard's removal," Brady said Thursday in telephone interview.

In February, he and Likoudis led a contentious forum at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Albany that drew about 200 people. The meeting took place just days after the Rev. John Minkler committed suicide at his Watervliet home.

The 57-year-old priest, who was a chaplain at the Stratton Veterans Affairs Medical Center, was mourned by Brady and Likoudis as their longtime ally against Hubbard.

Minkler's death came after he was publicly identified as the author of a 1995 letter to then-New York Archbishop John O'Connor that accused Hubbard of homosexual behavior and theological transgressions -- and after he signed a statement for the diocese denying that he wrote the letter.

Brady and Likoudis renewed their call for Hubbard's resignation when he was accused in February of having sex in the 1970s with one man who later killed himself and another who was a teenage prostitute in Washington Park.

Hubbard has denied any breach of his priestly celibacy and welcomed an investigation being conducted for the diocese by former U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White.

Many local Catholics have rallied in support of their bishop.

On Thursday, an outspoken advocate for victims of clergy sex abuse criticized Brady, Likoudis and others for "piggybacking" their personal agendas onto the current crisis.

"I welcome anyone who wants to speak out passionately about the pain victims have suffered," said Mark Furnish, director of the Capital District chapter of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests.

"But they're equating pedophilia with homosexuality, and that's hurtful," Furnish said. "We're about educating the community. They're taking that away."

Brady countered: "The abuse is the most horrific result of this crisis. But the crisis is not based in clergy misdeeds. It's the bishop's loss of faith and inactivity at the root of the problem -- the cancer."

Diocesan spokesman Kenneth Goldfarb said Brady "is seeking to misuse the serious and legitimate sexual abuse issue to further the political goals he has been unable to achieve."

"The idea of an Illinois group coming to Albany to impart its views on the Albany diocese seems to us to be unseemly," Goldfarb said.

Bob McCauley of East Greenbush, a founder of the Coalition of Concerned Catholics of the Albany Diocese, said Minkler will be a topic of discussion at the daylong conference.

"I was very impressed with him when we met two years ago," McCauley said.

Minkler's body was found by one of his two sisters.

They have not spoken publicly about his death or a note he left behind. But Brady said he has spoken with them about their desire to hire a lawyer to consider suing the diocese for damages in his death.

[sidewalk]

The February forum was, of course, unless contentious because of the attempts by Hubbard's supporters to disrupt it.

[sidewalk]

The emphasis in this story regarding the "midwestern" nature of Brady and Likoudis is laughable. Roman Catholic Faithful is not an "Illinois" group. It is a national group. Likoudis was born in Buffalo, grew up in Rochester and lives in western New York.

Hubbard, however, had no trouble with "outsiders" when he participated in a March 29, 2004 symposium, "Trusting the Clergy? The Church and Communities Come to Grips with Sexual Misconduct."
(http://www.evangelist.org/archive/htm4/0403intr.htm).

That forum featured:

* Archbishop Harry Flynn of St. Paul-Minneapolis

* Rev. Donald Cozzens, professor of religious studies at John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio

* Dr. Michael Bland, a survivor of clergy sexual abuse who is coordinator of the Office of Victim Assistance Ministry for the Archdiocese of Chicago;

* Rev. Dr. Marie Fortune, a United Church of Christ minister who founded the Center for the Prevention of Sexual and Domestic Violence in Seattle, Wash.;

* Dr. Carolyn Newberger, assistant clinical professor of psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School;

[dsc]

"The idea of an Illinois group coming to Albany to impart its views on the Albany diocese seems to us to be unseemly,"

Oh, my, yes. Not at all like the dignified practice of consorting with underage male prostitutes in a public park.

"Goldfarb said."

Goldfarb? This is, no doubt, a good old Irish Catholic surname.

[Desdemona]

Brady countered: "The abuse is the most horrific result of this crisis. But the crisis is not based in clergy misdeeds. It's the bishop's loss of faith and inactivity at the root of the problem -- the cancer."

There it is. Shout it from the rooftops. If the bishops had half the faith they are supposed to have, none of this would be going on.

[Desdemona]

The emphasis in this story regarding the "midwestern" nature of Brady and Likoudis is laughable.

Well, since this part of the country has been called "fly-over country" by people on the coasts, it's obvious some elites have a problem with wholesomeness. ;)

[AAABEST]

[sinkspur]

Goldfarb? This is, no doubt, a good old Irish Catholic surname.

No doubt you are making a thinly-veiled anti-Jewish slur?

[dsc]

Would that be something like your thinly veiled slur of my half-breed children?

But actually, no. I was making a plain statement that a Catholic Diocese should employ a Catholic to be its spokesman.

[sinkspur]

Would that be something like your thinly veiled slur of my half-breed children?

Where on earth did that bit of foolishness come from?

[dsc]

Your twisted mind, I presume, You're the one who posted it.

[sinkspur]

Posted what?

[sidewalk]

Do not know if Goldfarb is Catholic or not, but if he is this Ken Goldfarb from Catskill, NY, his children are not in the diocesan school system (BTW: there is a Catholic school,St. Patrick's academy, in Catskill--http://www.stpatsacademy.org):

From www.catskillschooldistrict.org/ces/BOECandidates.htm - 13k - Supplemental Result:

Ken Goldfarb

Ken has been very active in the Catskill Central School District and other youth and community activities for many years. He is an active member of the elementary School PTA and is a member of PTSO. He has served as editor of the PTA newsletter in past years and as a volunteer on many PTA projects. He has also served on the Irving School Shared Decision Making Team.

Over the years, Ken has received Board appointments to serve on the following committees: the Search committee for Superintendent, the Information committee on the purchase of Broome Street Land, the Capital Facilities Committee, the Construction Bond Issue Information Committee, and currently serves on the Committee for the Sale of Irving and Grandview Schools. In addition, he serves on the district’s Enhancing Education Through Technology Program committee and volunteers with the Middle School’s Greater Sense of Place Program.

Ken eagerly wants to explore what may be for Catskill, new approach to school district operations. His major goals as a member of the School Board would be to:

Help establish a long-range master plan aimed at improving the overall academic success, economic vitality and community pride of the Catskill Central School District.
Improve the cooperation between the district and all other governmental entities that impact the district, and
Improve communications between the district and all community groups, including parents, faculty and staff, taxpayers, business people and voters.

Ken and his wife, Carolyn live in Catskill and are very proud of their two children, Kira and Joshua, students in Catskill Middle School and Elementary School.