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The year of 2020 will be remembered as the time that the world came face to face with a global pandemic. The year of the mask, quarantine, social distancing and isolation. These words that we had only read about in years past, over a century ago, were now part of our daily lives.
It will be remembered as the year that nearly 320,000 Americans, and counting, lost their lives because of the coronavirus. It is a ghastly number, and one that should be infinitely lower in this multi-layered tragedy that is 2020; at one point in the United States more people died on multiple days in December due to the coronavirus than on the single day of 9/11. But as we take the first cautious steps toward 2021 — multiple vaccines are already being used around the world to immunize doctors, nurses, health-care workers and first-responders — let’s look back at the year that was and the stories and people who were inspired to do great things guided by their faith. Some stories are of hope and some illustrate a painful page in the history of this country and the Church, but they are my stories of 2020.
THE PANDEMIC
It was a brisk spring day, this Saturday, the 21st of March. Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger had just suspended Masses the week before and the world came to a standstill. As I drove to St. Kateri Tekakwitha parish on Rosa Road in Schenectady to meet Cindy Schultz, our photographer, there were no other cars on the road. The church parking lot was empty except for three other cars. Cindy and I were going to document one of the first livestreamed Masses in the Diocese.
I remember the words of Father Bob Longobucco — his voice was the only thing you could hear in the empty church — when during his homily he looked into the iPhone manned by Kristine Rooney, pastoral associate, and told his parishioners watching at home, “This week, it is only us.”
There were only three other people actually in the church: Kristine’s husband, Chris; the cantor, Christina Pizzino-Catalano, and the director of music, Kimberly Conway. I remember at the end of Mass, Father Bob offered me Communion and I felt so guilty for taking it. When so many others should have been in my place, why was I so lucky to receive the Eucharist? Maybe I was put here to see all the work and sacrifice and volunteering that people did to keep the Masses going. It was inspiring.
And this happened everywhere in the Diocese in the coming days, weeks and months. From drive-thru confessions at Our Lady of Victory in Troy, outdoor Masses at the Parish of Mater Christi in Albany and St. Joseph’s Church in Greenfield Center and drive-thru Communion at St. Ambrose Church in Latham, people more intensely held on to their faith and cherished it while others returned to it.
The faithful have slowly returned to in-person Masses at parishes. Some people, with this second wave, still feel uncomfortable and are watching Masses via livestream. And that is okay. Faith can now be enjoyed and delivered in so many ways to keep the Catholic heart beating.
CATHOLIC CHARITIES
People in the Capital District are hungry. Many wonder where their next meal is coming from, choosing between paying the mortgage, the car, or getting milk and bread. Food insecurity is at an all-time high locally and nationally and that is where Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Albany has been a game-changer. Along with its many partners, including the Northeast Regional Food Bank, Catholic Charities has fed thousands this year. Just look at these numbers: Last year, Catholic Charities served 5,366 people; this year that have surpassed 50,000 and over a million pounds of food delivered. They are a force — particularly Sister Betsy Van Deusen, CSJ, director of Community Partnerships — for good in the 14-country Diocese from Albany to Schenectady and from Fort Plain to Watervliet. The Evangelist sold reusable bags this spring and summer to benefit Catholic Charities, and they need your continued support and donations! 
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS
When the pandemic hit, perhaps no organization was as prepared as the Catholic schools in the Diocese. With the guiding hand of Superintendent of Schools Giovanni Virgiglio, and the dedication of the principals and teachers, students seamlessly transitioned into remote learning immediately. One of the more fun things schools did this year to make things “normal” was surprise graduating seniors, who missed out on so many things in their final semester, with lawn signs. Graduation was late this year, but a success, and in the fall, many schools saw an increase in students due to the mix of in-person and remote learning, and the smaller class sizes and family atmosphere that exists at each and every school.
ROOTS OF RACISM
8 minutes and 46 seconds.
This was how long a Minneapolis police officer put his knee into the back and neck of George Floyd, who became unconscious and died during the incident. That set off protests, marches, and unfortunate looting and riots, as the issue of racism boiled over again in this country. Bishop Scharfenberger and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and many Catholics decried the “sin of racism,” while an equal number of Catholics failed to grasp or were simply unwilling to acknowledge this historic failing of our nation. I wish everyone could hear Wilhelmina Murray-Davis, a director at Catholic Charities, speak about racism in this country. She talked to me for our Catholic Voices interview series this year, and the pain, anger and hurt in her voice in articulating what it is like to be Black in America was real and palpable. In a community looking for hope, Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory becoming the first Black cardinal from the United States in November, was a crucial and needed step.
MCCARRICK REPORT
The long-awaited McCarrick report was finally released by the Vatican in November and that was followed by the news that the New York State attorney general was suing the Diocese of Buffalo and two former bishops for their failure in handling abuse cases against numerous priests in years past. That is the reason that Bishop Scharfenberger was appointed apostolic administrator in Buffalo last December. I read both and they are troubling in many ways. McCarrick, who had deep ties throughout the universal Church, became cardinal because no one believed the reports of his misconduct or just ignored it. The Buffalo lawsuit alleges that numerous bishops moved around abusive priests to other parishes, lost track of them and failed to follow measures put in place by the Vatican and the USCCB, which are very specific in these matters. This remains the biggest problem, in my opinion, in the Church and if you don’t believe me, just take a look at all the Chapter 11 reorganizations that have happened in this country. When people ask me “how much longer do we have to talk about this?” the only response has to be “as long as it takes.”
THE FUTURE
So what will 2021 hold? When I talked with Kathy Gallagher from the New York State Catholic Conference about our story on voting, she said being a Catholic is “hard” when it comes to the ballot box. And she wasn’t wrong! The totality of issues that Pope Francis wants us Catholics to take ownership of — the sanctity of life from conception to natural death, religious liberty, immigration, climate change and the growing wealth disparity in the world, just to name a few — is daunting. But what I will try to do in 2021, is to tackle these issues head-on in the paper and on our social media platforms while listening more to the people of the Diocese. Together we can make this world a better place.

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