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As we near the year’s end, I am also coming to the end of my first year as editor of The Evangelist. 
It all started on Jan. 21, my first day, with the news of the enactment of the Reproductive Health Act, which greatly expanded abortion rights in the state and had Catholics calling for Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s excommunication, while Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger famously called the bill a ‘Death Star.’
I could barely turn on my computer, didn’t know how to post a story on the website, and one of the biggest stories of the year was happening eight hours into my first day. In the following months, I met priests and sisters, lay people and students; covered stories at the Capitol, an English Garden in Hudson, and saw a relic at the Cathedral, just to name a few. In our year-end, double-issue, we wanted to look back at some of the biggest stories of the year, which we offer here in chronological order. 
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH ACT
As I already mentioned, the RHA sickened Catholics across the state when it was passed in January. It didn’t help that Gov. Cuomo seemingly took a victory lap when he lit One World Trade Center in lower Manhattan in celebration, saying at the time he wanted “to shine a bright light for the rest of the nation to follow.” Bishop Scharfenberger referred to some of the procedures now allowed under the RHA as “torture.” 
Catholics continued to fight, however, undaunted by the bill, through events such as the national March for Life, which will take place in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 24, 2020, the many 40 Days for Life events across the Diocese of Albany, praying the Rosary at Planned Parenthoods and the Rosary Walk for Life with Bishop Scharfenberger in the summer.   
NOTRE DAME CATHEDRAL FIRE
On April 15, the news started to spread on Twitter, the preferred medium of journalists who don’t have access to a TV, that there was a fire at Notre-Dame de Paris. When you hear something like that, there is a shrug and a thought like, ‘I am sure it’s just nothing … but let’s hope it’s not terrorism’ and you go back to work. 
But when the text messages started rolling in — ‘Notre Dame is burning!’ and ‘Turn on the TV!’ — the reality started to set in that the 850-year-old landmark might burn to the ground. The blaze, which was linked to renovation work, quickly consumed the structure, bringing down much of the 13th-century oak roof and the iconic 300-foot spire, which many people around the world saw collapse into the raging inferno in real time. If not for the brave and courageous work of firefighters on the scene, the entire Cathedral would have likely burned to the ground. 
French president Emmanuel Macron pledged that day the Cathedral would be rebuilt within five years, and on July 16, the French Parliament passed a law requiring it be rebuilt exactly as it looked before the fire. But that hasn’t stopped people in charge from continuing to argue about the fate and look of the structure. Let’s hope in five years, the structure will be standing as a beacon, albeit a much safer one, for all in the world. 
MOURNING THEIR PASSING
Every year, there will be people who we will remember “in memoriam.” Whether it is a loved one, friend or colleague, that is part of the natural process of life. But we wanted to highlight the deaths of three particular people and the impact their lives had on the Diocese.
Brother Edward Coughlin
When the Siena College president died July 23 from complications from heart surgery, it stunned the Franciscan community, college and many area graduates. Brother Coughlin, 71 — known by everyone as “Brother Ed”  — was a fixture on campus and among students, and was known for the annual “Blessing of the Brains,” when students can have their brains blessed before finals week. 
Siena held a memorial Mass on Sept. 17, where this ‘genuine soul’ was memorialized. “I can’t think of anyone who had the ability to just make someone feel happy and warm and safe like him,” said junior Connor Rock at the service.   
Brother Ed was born in Buffalo, graduated from St. Bonaventure, where he later became vice president for Franciscan Mission and director of the school’s Franciscan Institute. Brother Ed had been president of Siena College since 2014.
Sister Monica Murphy, CSJ
By the sheer number of people that she affected, Sister Monica, 77, lived a truly amazing life. 
And that’s why, when she was killed in a car accident on Aug. 5, traveling back to her beloved Pyramid Life Center, it left a gaping void in many people’s hearts. She worked in the diocesan schools for 53 years, most notably at Catholic Central High School in Troy where she taught generations of families, and another 31 years as director of the diocesan retreat center in the Adirondacks. 
Sister Monica was known for her boundless energy and joy and tireless will to get things done, even if at the time, what she was proposing didn’t seem entirely possible. It didn’t matter to Sister Monica, and it helped having an army of people on speed dial. And help they did!
She was also known for battling for the underdog; finding the kid in school who was struggling and supporting them when no one else did.
Father J. Thomas Connery
Priest and commercial fisherman, Father Thomas Connery was a literal fisher of men. 
Father Connery, who died tragically when he was swept away by the historic floods in Herkimer County on Oct. 31, was perhaps best known locally as pastor of Immaculate Conception Church in Glenville from 1990-2007. Father Connery was born in Troy and ordained at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Albany in 1963. 
In 1967, he started an eight-year stint in Alaska, and he became a commercial fisherman to experience the life of his parishioners on Kodiak Island as well as to bring in some much-needed money for the parish. He also met Thomas Merton, the famed Trappist monk, theologian and mystic, while in Alaska. His life and ministry truly had a global reach.
CHILD VICTIMS ACT
With the passage of the Child Victims Act (CVA) on Feb. 14, New York State finally gave victims of sexual abuse a means of seeking justice against their abusers. 
The law, which went into effect on Aug. 14, allows victims to seek action against their abusers until they are 55 and opened a one-year look-back window for people who were sexually abused to seek civil action against their alleged abusers. There are currently a total of 56 lawsuits against the Diocese. 
Most notably, Bishop Emeritus Howard J. Hubbard was named in three lawsuits and has since taken a leave of absence from the Diocese. Bishop Hubbard has emphatically stated his innocence, saying he has “never sexually abused anyone of any age at any time.”
New Jersey also enacted similar legislation; the New Jersey Victims’ Rights bill went into effect on Dec. 1 and allows victims a two-year look-back window no matter when the abuse happened or how old the victim is. 
There are many serious problems facing the Church, whether it is young people, the so-called “nones,” not attending Mass or the fact that one-third of Catholics don’t believe that the bread and wine actually becomes the body of Jesus Christ during Mass, better known as transubstantiation. 
But, in my opinion, the single biggest problem — one that has been self-inflicted and covered up for decades in many dioceses across the world — has been ripped open again by the CVA. It has caused Catholics to lose their faith and leave the Church. 
And yes, Pope Francis this year enacted protocols for bishops when it comes to sexual abuse and accountability. But will it be enough? Is it too late? People, lay and religious, are still demanding answers into the McCarrick scandal, and how the now-laicized Cardinal could have remained in power for so long when his alleged abuse of seminarians was reportedly an open secret? Same thing with Bishop Bransfield, the former bishop in West Virginia, who has been accused of outrageous financial and sexual misconduct. 
All the cards have to be put on the table when it comes to the who, what and when of the abuse scandal. If not, this suffering Church may not be able to survive. 
The Diocese of Albany, however, should find comfort and courage in Bishop Scharfenberger’s commitment to transparency and his understanding that “true healing cannot occur until the full truth has been told, until the light hits every dark corner and exposes whatever evil remains hidden.” 
BISHOP TAKES OVER IN BUFFALO
Bishop Scharfenberger has been a national leader in fighting the problem of sexual abuse in the Church, from publishing a list of offenders in the Diocese four years ago, calling for a lay-led investigation of McCarrick and revamping the diocesan review board. 
In April, Bishop, who celebrated his fifth anniversary as head of the Diocese the same month, formed a sex-abuse task force comprised of religious and lay people for greater transparency and accountability in the Diocese of Albany, which includes the journey of clergy-abuse survivors and their families. 
“We are holding ourselves accountable before our people. No stone will be left unturned,” the Bishop said at the time. 
So it should have come as no surprise when Bishop Scharfenberger was named Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Buffalo on Dec. 4, taking over after the resignation of the embattled Bishop Richard Malone. 
Malone was embroiled in controversy over his handling of abuse allegations, that angered many of the 700,000 Catholics in the region. The Western New York diocese is facing an FBI probe, is the defendant in over 200 sex-abuse lawsuits and is contemplating bankruptcy.  
With his resume, Bishop Scharfenberger — who will have a say in who the new permanent bishop will be — is perfectly suited for the job and showed that with his compassionate, victims-first message during his first press conference with the Buffalo media. 
But his task ahead is daunting. He will be in charge of two dioceses, numbering almost one million Catholics and spending one day each week in Buffalo. 
The lack of trust and outright anger by Catholics in that region is palpable. They want action. They want change. And they want it now. How much longer can they wait?
On a personal note, I would like to thank everyone who has helped me along in this journey, particularly Mary DeTurris Poust, who possesses a wealth of knowledge and insight about all things Catholic. 
I would also like to point out the great staff at The Evangelist: writers Emily Benson and Franchesca Caputo, designer extraordinaire Brenda Powell, business manager Stephanie Zebrowski, sales manager John Salvione, circulation coordinator Ann Egan and administrative assistant Kathy Hughes. You all make me look good on a daily basis! 
Happy New Year to all and we will see you in 2020!

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