A WELCOME SIGN

Bishop Mark receives visit, proclamations from Albany County legislators

Bishop Mark O’Connell met with a delegation of Albany County legislators on Jan. 14 and received a proclamation welcoming him to the area and another proclamation for Bishop Emeritus Edward B. Scharfenberger recognizing his time as the head of the Diocese of Albany. (Mike Matvey photo)

Saying he could not feel more welcomed, Bishop Mark O’Connell met with a group of Albany County legislators on Jan. 14 at the Pastoral Center.

The bipartisan delegation signed and delivered one proclamation welcoming Bishop Mark to the county, while giving him another proclamation which recognized the tenure of Bishop Emeritus Edward B. Scharfenberger as the leader of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany. 

“We’re here, a mix of Democrats and Republicans, so we wanted to come and welcome you and show you that we do work hard for the county,” said Frank Mauriello, the Minority Leader for the Albany County Legislature who represents Colonie and is a parishioner at St. Clare’s, “and we’re a welcoming group and we want to welcome you to Albany County and we thank you for being here.”

Mauriello was joined by Andrew Joyce (Albany), Todd Drake (Latham), Susan Quine-Laurilliard (Colonie), Bill Ricard (Cohoes), Patty Schwarz Lockart (Colonie), Mark Grimm (Guilderland/Colonie), Ellen Rosano (Colonie) and Tim Lane (Menands).

After Joyce, a parishioner at Mater Christi Parish, referenced crisis pregnancy center legislation that Bishop Scharfenberger had a hand in stopping a few years ago, he said “sometimes there is legislation that comes through that’s flawed … good communication between the Diocese and the legislature is always good,” Bishop Mark later responded “Let’s vow together then to do what we can to have a saner world.” 

Bishop Mark told legislators his job is about recovery in the Diocese of Albany - financial, spiritual and emotional - after bankruptcy, saying “we are going to be strong in Albany soon and we’ll work with you.”

When asked about the victims who suffered from clergy abuse, Bishop Mark said “that’s the first part” and told the legislators about his background in the Archdiocese of Boston when the abuse scandal broke in 2002. 

“I have spent the last 25 years of my life being part of the solution and I will spend the rest of my life doing that. … You’d be hard pressed to find a bishop in this country with more experience than me, that’s what I do. That’s my job and my passion,” said Bishop Mark, who was elected chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People last November. “Let’s fix that, recover and be strong. … I am (hopeful) you’ll find that I’m what you hoped for. I’ll have to earn that trust, but I loved the fact that you came today and you would do all this because it is extremely important for the church to work with the state.”