Bishop: None of your business (Hubbard rejects Catholic expert's criticism of Gov. Cuomo) [Catholic]

Times Union ^ | February 24, 2011 | Casey Seiler State Editor

[NYer]

FILE - This Jan. 2, 2011 file photo shows New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, left, with his girlfriend, Sandra Lee, and Lt. Gov. Robert Duffy, center, in front of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, in Albany, N.Y., after attending Sunday services. The father, the son and the question of whether to grant communion to Catholics who openly flout canon law has once again reared up in New York where a Vatican consultant is calling to deny the host to Gov. Cuomo while he is living with his girlfriend. More than 25 years ago, Cuomo's father, Gov. Mario Cuomo, ran afoul of the church for his support of abortion rights.

ALBANY -- Albany Bishop Howard Hubbard says it is "unfair and imprudent" to conclude that Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his girlfriend, Sandra Lee, shouldn't receive Communion simply because they're living together.

Hubbard was responding to opinions expressed by Catholic canon law expert Edward Peters, who last month on his blog stated that the couple was engaging in what church law defines as "public concubinage" by sharing Lee's Westchester County home.

Peters wrote last month about Hubbard's warm welcome to the couple at Mass at Albany's Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on Jan. 2, the day after Cuomo's inauguration. He claimed that Hubbard had committed a "dereliction of pastoral duty."

Without referring to Peters, Hubbard responded Wednesday by telling any critics to, in effect, mind their own business.

"There are norms of the church governing the sacraments which Catholics are expected to observe," Hubbard wrote in a brief statement. "However, it is unfair and imprudent to make a pastoral judgment about a particular situation without knowing all the facts.

"As a matter of pastoral practice we would not comment publicly on anything which should be addressed privately, regardless if the person is a public figure or a private citizen," Hubbard wrote in conclusion.

John Dwyer, a former Jesuit who taught theology at St. Bernard's School of Theology and Ministry, said Hubbard's statement was "the perfect response, really solid."

Dwyer, who lives outside of Tannersville in the Catskills, said modern religious thought has come to the conclusion that Communion should be denied only to those living in mortal sin -- a state that requires "a serious, grievous matter," sufficient reflection by the sinner, and the "full consent" of his will.

"Cuomo comes from a day and age when living with your girlfriend isn't a serious, grievous matter ... or something that's seen as a serious violation of God's will," Dwyer said.

Peters, who teaches at Detroit's Sacred Heart Major Seminary, serves as a consultant to the highest Vatican court, the Apostolic Signatura. His opinions were picked up by a conservative news service and reported around the state on Wednesday.

The back-and-forth over Cuomo's good standing as a Catholic is the latest in a long series of conflicts between church and state. Numerous Catholic politicians who support abortion rights -- including Vice President Joe Biden and the late U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy -- have been criticized for taking Communion despite their advocacy for a practice viewed as anathema by the Vatican. Indeed, Peters' initial blog post on Cuomo's appearance at Hubbard's Mass noted the governor's pro-choice stance as an additional affront to church law.

After an appearance Wednesday morning on Long Island, Cuomo commented on the matter in a style similar to Hubbard's.

"My religion is a private matter," he told reporters, "and it's not something I discuss in the political arena."

[tioga]

I have noticed from personal experience that those who attend St. Bernard’s come back speaking Rochester-ese....and I no longer look to them for spiritual guidance. I have been told by one of them that the Pope is just a doddering old fool and not to be listened to. I stood with my mouth hanging open in shock. I stopped listening to them years ago.

[Gerish]

How did a clown like this get to be bishop?

I wish I knew the answer to that. He needs many prayers as I am afraid he will have much to answer for.

[Natural Law]

"Thread says [Catholic]"

Get off this thread!

[NYer]

How did a clown like this get to be bishop?

Archbishop Jean Jadot, Pope Paul VI's apostolic delegate to the United States from 1973-1980, has no regrets about the spate of bad bishops he inflicted on the Catholics of this country.

snip

Jadot is still proud of some of his most notorious picks, such as Bishop Walter Sullivan of Richmond, Va., Archbishop Rembert Weakiand of Milwaukee, and Roger Cardinal Mahony of Los Angeles - to name but a few, many of whom are known more for their advocacy of homosexual rights, their protection of pederast priests, and their conunitment to modernism than to their commitment to the Church's doctrines. Other men who became bishops during Jadot's tenure in the United States include Rochester Bishop Matthew Clark; Albany's Howard Hubbard; former Santa Fe Archbishop Roberto Sanchez, who resigned in a sex scandal; former San Jose Bishop Pierre DuMaine; former Honolulu Bishop Joseph Ferrario; San Antonio Archbishop Patrick Flores; former Newark Archbishop Peter Gerety; Joliet, Ill., Bishop Joseph Imesch; Louisille Archbishop Thomas C. Kelly, O.P., a former staffer at the apostolic nuncio under Jadot; Bernard Cardinal Law of Boston (whom Jadot selected as bishop for Springfield-Cape Girardeau, Mo.), Cincinnati Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk; Saginaw, Mich., Bishop Kenneth Untener - to name a few more - all of whom, supposedly, mirrored his own progressive image as a "man of the people."

Still Proud Of Bishops He Gave U.S.

The article was written in 2002. Archbishop Jadot passed away in January 2009, at the age of 99. Both Bishops Hubbard (Albany) and clark (Rochester) will reach mandatory retirement age in another 3 years. They have been friends since seminary.

[NYer]

Teddy was given a full Catholic funeral with as I recall a Bishop presiding.

I am no fan of Ted Kennedy but I was not present at his deathbed and have no knowledge of his final moments which may very likely have included a full confession. If you were there and can attest otherwise, please let me know. Otherwise, neither one of us is in a position to judge him, nor those who officiated at his funeral.

[EDINVA]

“They have been friends since seminary.”

Are we supposed to read between the lines? NOTHING would surprise any more. This generation of priests and bishops have done incalculable harm that will take another few generations to overcome.

[TradicalRC]

Hubbard’s a Paul VI leftover. Enjoy your new springtime Bishop; your days are numbered.

[tioga]

I have no problem with Ted’s funeral mass, BUT I do object to televising the mass. Over the top and appalling, especially considering his sinful life.

[Sun]

“Albany Bishop Howard Hubbard says it is “unfair and imprudent” to conclude that Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his girlfriend, Sandra Lee, shouldn’t receive Communion simply because they’re living together.”

Even IF they are sleeping in separate rooms, what about Cuomo’s pro-abortion, and pro-homosexual “marraige” positions. No way can we excuse that away.

[namvolunteer]

Dear Casey Seiler State Editor, the right word for this was not anathema. The right word is heretic, and that is a mortal sin.

[fides qua creditur]

I, too, was apalled. I’ve added a page to my blog at http://maronites.wordpress.com that links to Dr Peter’s erudite replies.

I live in the RC diocese of Albany and it’s worse than you can imagine.

Peace and joy!

[nd76]

Do you listen to Pax et Bonum radio, WOPG (words of peace and goodness), AM 1460 and FM 89.5?

The people who run this apostolate are friends of mine, and they sacrificed a lot to bring EWTN Global Catholic Radio to the Albany area.