MAKING HISTORY

YEAR IN REVIEW: An American-born pope and a new Bishop of Albany top our stories of 2025

Pope Leo XIV and Bishop Mark O'Connell top our stories of the year.

Looking back on the year, two dates immediately stick out: May 8 and Oct. 20.

One date changed the Universal Church and the other changed the Diocese of Albany.

On May 8, there was excitement in the air, as white smoke poured out of the chimney at the Vatican. We would have a new pope to succeed Pope Francis, who had died on April 21.

But who would it be? Would it be Paro­lin? Zuppi? Tagle?

At 1:20 p.m., EST, it was announced that Cardinal Robert F. Prevost, who grew up in Chicago, would be the first American-born pope. It was stunning! A shocker! It is one of those moments that you will always remember where you were when you heard the news.

History was made and the new pope would take the name Pope Leo XIV. As he stood on the loggia of St. Peter’s basilica, he smiled and waved and his first words were “Peace be with you!”

It was a joyous day, and I can’t wait to see where his pontificate takes him and the Church.

The other joyous day was on that mild, fall Monday in October, when Bishop Mark O’Connell, then-archbishop of the Archdiocese of Boston, was named the 11th Bishop of Albany, succeeding Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger, who had led the Diocese of Albany since 2014.

In his opening day press conference, Bishop Mark, as he likes to be called, told the faithful of Albany, that “I’m giving you my heart. I’m giving you my faith. I’m giving you my joy. I so love every single thing about being a priest. I have always, always been a happy priest. I’ve learned to love being a bishop and I pledge here today to learn and to love the people of Albany.”

This began a whirlwind of activity for employees of the Pastoral Center and for The Evangelist as Bishop Mark’s Installation Mass was less than two months away on Dec. 5. There was an intense amount of planning from PC employees, which included: where would everyone stay, and where would the Mass be held (as it turned out, it would be at St. Edward the Confessor in Clifton Park because the Cathedral was just not big enough for the expected crowd of over 1,000). 

The Evangelist had the first, in-depth interview with Bishop Mark (Dec. 4 edition of The Evangelist) and I think it added to what we already had heard and seen: Bishop Mark will be sincere, honest, easy to smile and laugh, and straightforward.

The Mass went off without a hitch and that was a testament to all the hard work that the volunteers put into it. 

Being there in person, you could feel the joy in the room, especially when Bishop Mark held up the papal bulla, which officially named him as Bishop of Albany, for all to see. Cheers rang out throughout the church and in the atrium where an overflow crowd was seated. 

Bishop Mark has challenges ahead, but after his time in the Archdiocese of Boston, he feels he is more than equipped to handle them. In everything he does as Bishop of Albany, we pray for him!

I also have to offer up prayers for Bishop Ed who was our shepherd in the Diocese for the past 11 years and has steered us through some pretty turbulent waters. I have worked with him since 2019 and will miss our interactions in his role as publisher of The Evangelist. 

For the year that started as a Jubilee Year of Hope, things were relatively quiet in the Diocese at the start. In June, the Diocese, under Bishop Ed, launched the Remade for Mission initiative, which is a blueprint for evangelization and revitalization. The media focused on potential parish closures, but Remade for Mission really is a way of not doing business as usual and bringing the word of God to everyone we meet. 

In addressing the initiative, and specifically church closures, Bishop Mark said in a meeting with the local press after his Installation Mass: “I don’t know what will happen here. I certainly don’t come in with an agenda. In fact that’s part of the thing that makes it ugly that you have some arbitrary number. … That’s just not how it works. You work individually with the parishes, individually with the churches; they are loved by everyone in them and then circumstances happen where they have to close. You don’t close something without giving people a shot to save it and a real shot. Not, ‘You got two months.’ ”

Things ramped up as we approached fall, namely with the appointment of Bishop Mark. But two other stories are of note as well. The St. Clare’s pensioners trial began on Nov. 3 and has been covered expertly by staff writer Emily Benson. The Diocese was found not to be liable in the case, but Bishop Ed, the estate of the late Bishop Howard Hubbard and the estate of the late Father David LeFort and others, were found liable. The case is now in the hands of the court to determine who has to pay the $54.2 million that the jury awarded the pensioners. 

And just last week, Gov. Kathy Hochul said she would sign the physician-assisted suicide bill that the New York State Catholic Conference, as well as many other Catholics, have been fighting against for years. Even before Hochul said she would sign the bill next month, advocates were on record saying they will push for its expansion. This is not a good thing for any New Yorker, especially our most vulnerable.

But I do want to end on a note of hope, especially as we are ending the Jubilee Year of Hope. Let’s remember the words of Pope Leo that he spoke during the Jubilee of Youth this summer: “... the world needs messages of hope: you are that message, and you must continue to bring hope to all.

“And today, perhaps more than ever, we need missionary disciples who bring the gift of the Risen One to the world; who go to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:3-8), giving voice to the hope that the living Jesus gives us; who reach every place where there is a heart that hopes, seeks or longs for something more.”

No matter what our age, let’s remain hopeful and bring the message of Jesus Christ to everyone that we meet!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!