Vatican City: The former bishop of Albany, New York, who has been accused of sex abuse and admitted to covering up for predatory priests, has asked Pope Francis to excommunicate him.
On Friday, which the United Nations has designated as the World Day for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Sexual Abuse, Abuse and Violence, Bishop Howard Hubbard, 84, emeritus, announced in a statement.
As a result of American Church policy banning ordained priests from ministry, Hubbard claimed he could no longer serve as a priest and wished to be ordained, or returned to the state of Leyte. Hubbard would be released from the obligations of his celibacy if the commendation was accepted.
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It is unusual for a priest who denies allegations of abuse against him to ask the pope to voluntarily release him, let alone a bishop. In most cases, priests against whom there is overwhelming evidence of abuse or who wish to leave the priesthood to marry are asked to be ordained. priests may be demoted or forced out by the Vatican as a
Hubbard has admitted to hiding claims of priests sexually abusing minors in order to prevent scandal and preserve the good name of the diocese. He did so during a deposition for one of the many lawsuits filed against the Albany Diocese by hundreds of people who claim to have been sexually abused as children, sometimes decades earlier.
However, he has categorically denied claims that he personally molested children. In his statement on Friday, Hubbard reiterated his claim of innocence.
He expressed his hope and prayer that he would live long enough that his name would be cleared forever. From 1977 to 2014, Hubbard oversaw the Diocese of the Capital Territory of New York.
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In response to the inappropriate behavior of the robed clergy, other American bishops have called for Francis to step down, but not to be excommunicated outright. After a church investigation revealed that Theodore McCarrick had abused both adults and children, Francis forcibly removed him in 2019.
Lawyers for abuse victims hailed Hubbard's request to resign from the priesthood altogether as the culmination of his clients' efforts to hold the Catholic hierarchy responsible for the abuse and cover-up. The "one strike and you're out" policy that the U.S. The church exempted bishops from punishment for 20 years.
The Vatican adopted only internal guidelines for investigating accused bishops in 2019, but information about those cases has been kept private and no full public accounting of those investigated or disciplined has been provided; Instead, individual dioceses or episcopal conferences are responsible for revealing the details.
"We believe Hubbard's removal is not only necessary, but appropriate. Attorney Cynthia Lafave, who has defended hundreds of victims of abuse in the United States, said in a statement released by the Law Offices of Jeffrey Anderson. It sends a message to the survivors. That their voices are being heard."
