[markomalley]

The road to Albany leads through Philly.

Fr. Z's comments seem appropriate for those in dioceses like Albany:

WDTPRS extends congratulations to the people of Philadelphia for the appointment of His Excellency Most Rev. Charles Chaput as their new Archbishop!  Condolences to the people of Denver, who must now begin a process of prayer in expectation of the appointment of a new archbishop.

For those of you who are waiting for the appointment of a bishop, here are two proposals I made elsewhere:

PROPOSAL 1: Stop, now, and say a prayer to the guardian angels of those who must make this decision.

PROPOSAL 2: If your diocese is presently “sede vacante“, for each minute of gossip and even of speculation – which will go on anyway – spend 10 in prayer.

These are difficult times.  The devil is abroad and has great wrath.  The appointment of bishops is always important and difficult.

The bigger the see, the more important the choice, as we have seen to our great consternation.

[the invisib1e hand]

bumpus.

[NYer]

Thank you, Mark. Those of us in te Albany and Rochester Dioceses have suffered for more than 3 decades. During that time, both bishops have decimated these dioceses. As an example, in nearby Watervliet, Hubbard closed 5 of the 6 parishes, regardless of their solvency. He never appeared at any of the meetings to discuss the situation. As a result, many catholics left and joined an Evangelical Church (that nets $35,000/wk). Others, who are still mobile, drive to different parishes, some of which have lost their resident pastors and are run by lay people.