Priest of Albany Diocese named bishop

Last week, a message was left on Msgr. Joseph W. Estabrook's answering machine to call Washington, D.C., about a confidential matter.

Little did he know that when he returned the call, he'd hear the following from Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, apostolic nuncio to the U.S.: "Pope John Paul II has appointed you the auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Military Services."

Bishop-elect Estabrook's first response was, "Excuse me?"

"I was totally taken aback," the Kingston native told The Evangelist.

Bishop to bishop

Ordained for the Albany Diocese in 1969, Bishop-elect Estabrook had been a Navy chaplain since 1977, having achieved the rank of captain.

Until his new appointment, he was command chaplain at the Marine Corps base in Hawaii, where he spearheaded the construction of a $9.5 million chapel for the base's 12,000 active troops (search The Evangelist's archives at www.evangelist.org to read more).

The first person the new bishop called about the appointment was Bishop Howard J. Hubbard.

"I felt inadequate; I wasn't sure I could do it," Bishop-elect Estabrook explained. "He told me, `You're only one person, and one person can only do so much -- but your presence and your faith will give some people the hope they need.'"

Feeling more confident, the Bishop-elect thought, "It's time for me to step up to the plate" and accept the appointment.

Bishop Hubbard said that "Msgr. Estabrook has served the Church and his country with great distinction for many years. We in the Albany Diocese take great pride in learning of his upcoming ordination, especially since he follows the late Archbishop Joseph T. Ryan and the late Bishop John G. Nolan, two other Albany priests who also served as bishops with the Military Archdiocese."

More to do

Ironically, Bishop-elect Estabrook told The Evangelist, he'd been a year away from retiring from the Navy when he was named auxiliary bishop. On May 19, he'll turn 60.

But the more he thought about his new assignment, the more enthused he got. He noted that he had previously worked with Bishop John Kaising, an auxiliary bishop in the Military Archdiocese who will now be his colleague.

"I'm more enthralled with the idea of us being a team than being a bishop!" he remarked, chuckling. "I think it's going to be exciting."

Service

Bishop-elect Estabrook sees his appointment as another opportunity to work with the military personnel he enjoys serving -- particularly during the war in Iraq, when soldiers need the ministry the Military Archdiocese provides.

"My whole life so far has been with the Navy and Marine Corps," he stated. "I am living with these young Marines every day. Every time I hear ten Marines were killed [in Iraq], I put faces on this."

The new bishop recalled ministering to soldiers in Saudi Arabia during the first Gulf War, "walk[ing] down the street with these guys around me. They're kind of carefree, and I look for snipers, think[ing] about what it would be like for me to tell their parents" if they were killed in action.

He added that he's led many a prayer service for fallen soldiers, sharing the pain of comrades left behind.

Future plans

When he spoke to The Evangelist, Bishop-elect Estabrook was unsure of what his duties as auxiliary bishop would entail. However, he looked forward to visiting different military bases and getting to know the men and women stationed there.

"Unless you have the pulse of the people you're serving, you really can't take care of them the way you have to," he noted.

The moral education of military personnel being sent to Iraq is crucial, he said, especially in light of the abuses of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison that recently came to light in the media.

"There is no excuse for that kind of behavior. It's our job [in religious ministry in the armed services] to make sure people are spiritually and morally ready before they go over there," the new bishop stated.

Solutions

Chapels and programs on moral decision-making for soldiers, he believes, are two ways to help those struggling to handle new situations and decisions on the battlefield.

Chapels for those fighting in Iraq aren't the only ones important to Bishop-elect Estabrook: Having dedicated himself to building a chapel at the Hawaii Marine Corps base, he was sad at having to leave before its completion next March.

However, in a statement he made upon his appointment, the new bishop spoke of military personnel as "the people our Lord Jesus has called me to serve and care for," and said, "I will do so with all my energy and enthusiasm, with all my faith and focus -- with all my heart and soul. I will faithfully represent the Church to them, and stand by them to help them to feel God's presence and power in their lives."

He told The Evangelist he planned to do so by being himself: "Whatever title I've been given, it's ancillary to the person I am. I always tell my chaplains, `The four [captain's] stripes I wear are your stripes. You come to me, and I'll fight your battles for you."

(Bishop-elect Estabrook's previous assignments included executive assistant to the Navy chief of chaplains, ethics consultant to the Navy Surgeon General, fleet chaplain for the U.S. Pacific fleet, senior chaplain of the U.S. Pacific Unified Command and, most recently, command chaplain for the Marine Corps base in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.)

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