Bishop Hubbard Missed His Chance

I recently saw a story in the Albany, N.Y. diocesan newspaper, The Evangelist: "BISHOP HUBBARD MARRIES IN CIVIL CEREMONY"

Bishop Hubbard is the retired bishop of that diocese. The current Bishop of Albany, Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger, said the news was "unexpected."

Unexpected perhaps, but not totally surprising given Bishop Hubbard's somewhat progressive reputation during his tenure in Albany. He was a favorite target of more traditionalist Catholics, often unfairly, but sometimes they had a point.

According the news account, Bishop Hubbard, 84, last fall had requested to be laicized, but the Vatican told him this spring to wait until seven civil lawsuits against him alleging sexual misconduct had been adjudicated, and the bankruptcy of the diocese is resolved.. He noted that that might take several years, so in July he just went ahead and married a woman with whom he had fallen in love.

It's not clear if a relationship with this woman is what led to his request to be laicized.

Now I'm not going to judge his spiritual state - that's between him and God.

Nor do I know for certain what his mental state is. He is 84, and I know some folks over 80 who are sharp. However, I also know some who have clear cognitive issues. Including a few in elected office.

Moreover, he was involved in a car accident on July 19, 2022, and it was determined that he suffered a stroke.

Hmm. Maybe he should consider running for President.

Whatever his spiritual or mental states - we need to keep him in our prayers - I think Bishop Hubbard missed an opportunity for a progressive gesture.

Let me explain.

I used to teach at a Catholic high school. In many ways, that school was like so many formerly Catholic colleges and organizations that promote themselves as being in the Catholic tradition, even as they engage in things that are not quite in keeping with Catholic teachings.

At this school, we had several lesbians teaching, and one was the head of the middle school. That person was "married" to a fellow lesbian. Oh, they did not publicly promote their state, but everyone on the faculty - and presumably, a number of the students - were aware. She even showed up with her "spouse" at one of the annual gala fundraising celebrations.

We also had some teachers and at least one administrator who were living with someone without benefit of marriage. That included two unmarried teachers who were openly living together.

One of the divorced faculty members was living with someone to whom she was not married. They decided to marry. Not sure if her first marriage had been annulled, but they opted for a different kind of wedding ceremony anyway: They asked the now-retired lesbian head of the middle school to officiate. You can get those certificates online very easily. So a ceremony was performed, whether licit or not is unclear, and the faculty member declared herself married and continued her duties at the school.

So many fine examples for the students at this "Catholic' school.

Anyway, Bishop Hubbard, instead of a civil ceremony, could have made a statement.

He could have opted for a mail-order minister ceremony, perhaps officiated by a gay or lesbian employee of the diocese or one of its diocesan schools, one of the order-run schools, or a college with a Catholic tradition.

Or he could even have asked one of the priests of the diocese who had been removed from active ministry for sexual offenses to officiate.

Or he could have really gone progressive and had a ceremony celebrated by a group of lay people laying on hands and singing David Haas songs.

He could have added a twist and officiated himself, ("Do I take this woman...).

Or he could have gone Rasputin, declaring that sinning was a path to holiness, and the more one sinned the more holiness was made available, and so just moved in with the woman in a quest for holiness, and, of course, following the inspiring examples of some of the teachers I cited earlier.

Take that hierarchy! Down with clericalism! Hooray for a well-deformed conscience!

Why, he could even have extended a certain middle digit in the direction of the Vatican.

I bet NCR (the Not-really Catholic Reporter) would have had a glowing story about any of these gestures.

Especially that last one.

Pax et bonum