Albany

Monsignor Edward Scharfenberger, a 65-year-old Brooklyn-born, Vatican-educated priest and pastor of a parish in Queens, will become the 10th bishop of Albany on April 10. His selection by Pope Francis to succeed Bishop Howard Hubbard was announced Tuesday.

Scharfenberger, who also has been a lawyer for more than two decades, played a significant role in how the Diocese of Brooklyn handled the clergy sex scandal as a member of the Diocesan Review Board for Sexual Abuse of Minors.

"I want to be a healer. I want to be a listener. I want to be a reconciler, but I can't do it alone," Scharfenberger said when he was introduced at a morning news conference at the Pastoral Center of the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese.

"Let's just get to know each other...walk together," Scharfenberger said, adding that he wants to bring back those who have been alienated by the church.

And in a reference to the closing of parishes with dwindling congregations, he said: "If we had more people coming into the churches, we wouldn't have to close any churches."

He leads St. Matthias Church in Ridgewood, a multi-ethnic church with a large German congregation, which offers services and hears confessions in German. In addition to German, Scharfenberger speaks Spanish, Italian and French. His recent assignments also included vicar for strategic planning and episcopal vicar for Queens.

The next bishop showed that he is an engaging conversationalist, quick to smile and laugh, as when he told of his surprise a week ago on learning of his new assignment.

"I got a call that in a few minutes I was going to get a call from a priest," he said. "I asked 'What did I do?' "

"Did I think I would be here in Albany?" Scharfenberger said. "No, maybe in Lake George."

Hubbard demonstrated his own brand of humor at the lectern.

"Good morning. I'm Howard Hubbard, and I used to be bishop of Albany," he said.

Hubbard, as required of all bishops, submitted his retirement last fall on his 75th birthday. But he remains bishop until his successor is installed on April 10. Officially, the church referred to Scharfenberger as bishop-elect.

Hubbard contrasted Scharfenberger's diocese, which includes Queens, with his own. "Brooklyn is one of the few dioceses in the United States that is totally urban. Albany covers 14 far-flung counties."

"You are going to have a bit of an adjustment to make here in Albany," he said, then gave Scharfenberger a map of the diocese and a zucchetto that his predecessor, Bishop Edwin Broderick, gave him in 1977 when he was elevated from Albany priest at age 38.

Hubbard rummaged around in his bag for effect and pulled out a Mets cap. Scharfenberger is a big fan. Hubbard, who was born and raised in Troy, has always rooted for the Boston Red Sox.

Richard E. Barnes, executive director of the New York State Catholic Conference, welcomed the pope's appointment "with great joy," and said his legal training and work as a pastor in the melting pot of Queens would serve him well in Albany.

"We are excited to get to know our new local bishop and we look forward to his strong voice impacting the important pastoral and public policy issues facing the church in the entire state of New York."

Barnes also said the bishops wished Hubbard "a long and healthy retirement and look forward to many more years of his wise counsel."

A member of the group of Capital Region Catholics who recently launched the website albanybishopsearch.org to ask people of the Albany diocese to share their thoughts on what they wanted to see in a new bishop said he was impressed with Scharfenberger's deep spiritual and educational background.

"I look forward to having a person who will lead the Albany diocese in a progressive and open way so we can all draw closer to God," said Bill Halligan, who is a parishioner at St. Vincent DePaul in Albany.

Scharfenberger earned a bachelor's degree in 1968 at Cathedral College of the Immaculate Conception in Queens, where he majored in English. He also is a graduate the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome where he was ordained in 1973 and of Fordham University School of Law, a Jesuit institution.

He was co-author of the 2009 report, "From Shadow to Light and from Scandal to Healing: The Experience of the Diocese of Brooklyn with the Sex Abuse Scandal." The board has examined more than two dozen cases.

"We have to go forward with this important work," Scharfenberger said Tuesday. "There have been some bumps in the road, and the church has taken too long of a time to remove some offenders. I believe in transparency, but we have to be patient to protect a person's confidentiality and to protect children. People should not be afraid to speak out, and they should know they will be protected. There is nothing as unloving as abuse."

David Clohessy, head of the St. Louis chapter of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, who has been a vocal critic of Hubbard's handling of the clergy-abuse crisis, said Scharfenberger was heavily involved in handling pedophile-priest cases for a decade, "yet we've seen not a single hopeful move in the Brooklyn diocese regarding this scandal."

Hubbard has noted that he was the nation's youngest Catholic bishop when he was elevated from an Albany priest by Pope Paul VI and he retires as the longest serving bishop in the nation. He said the diocese was blessed that Pope Francis chose such a gifted leader as his successor.

"Bishop-elect Scharfenberger has a rich background as both a canon and civil lawyer, as the head of the Judicial Tribunal in Brooklyn, and as pastor for 12 years in St. Matthias in Ridgewood, a multi-ethnic parish, where he has gained fluency in a multitude of languages, which I am sure will serve him well in our diocese and will be most appreciated by our growing Hispanic ... community," Hubbard said.

Scharfenberger, the oldest of five children, paid honor to parents, Edward and Elaine Scharfenberger, both of whom are 93 and live in Warwick, Orange County.

"It is humbling when I think that I soon will be counted among the successors of the Lord's Apostles. I am not worthy of this office, and I hope that our priests, deacons, religious and laypeople will pray for me often as, together, we continue along our journey of faith," Scharfenberger said.

"What else do I ask for? What do I hope for? I ask the priests, deacons, religious and laity to help me to be myself – my best self. I promise to love and respect all of you by letting you be who you are and to bring out the best in you."

bgardinier@timesunion.com • 518-454-5696 • @BobGardinier