Letters to the Editor on the Allegations Against Bishop Hubbard

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When accused Bishop Howard Hubbard asked the Vatican to revoke his status as a priest, among those taken by surprise were his alleged victims of abuse and their civil lawyers, as well as canon lawyers. Read letters to the editor from NCR readers responding to our stories below. Letters have been edited for length and clarity.

The title of this article is wrong. This article is not about “victims’ lawyers” but about the lawyers of the alleged victims. The repeated use of “alleged” and references to “allegations” in the body of the article are implicitly, and I imagine deliberately, undermined by the inaccurate title.

Ultimately, the blurring of the distinction between alleged and actual victims is a reminder that irrationalism is not just rising on the right, but rising sharply in the Anglosphere more generally.

The question here is one of epistemology. How do we evaluate claims of truth? One part suggests that we seek out and assess all available evidence, as evidence is needed to establish facts. The other side tells us that a claim establishes itself as fact simply because it is made, e.g. “X says they were abused by Bishop Hubbard, so X was abused by Bishop Hubbard.”

To the detriment of all who value reason, it is the reactionary and bankrupt epistemology of the latter side that rapidly attains cultural dominance. The wrong title of this article is a good example.

JEFFREY JONES Hamburg, New York

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I have known Bishop Howard Hubbard for over 40 years and have always considered him a very humble and holy person who was known in the Diocese of Albany for his advocacy on behalf of the poor and social justice issues and for the relationships interreligious, especially with the Jewish community.

Many people in our diocese continue to admire his ministry and personally support him during this difficult time. He denied all accusations of personal violence. I and many others believe so. He was investigated 20 years ago by well-known prosecutor Mary Jo White when there were previous charges against him and she found nothing. Many people like me believe he is the victim of “legal” abuse after lawyers representing the victims aggressively sought to find clients who would accuse the bishop himself of abuse, perhaps to increase the value of a financial settlement.

In terms of how he handled cases of abuse by other priests, Hubbard himself acknowledged that mistakes had been made. What he has done is publicly admit what most other bishops have also done, which is to rely on counselors and therapy for accused priests rather than report to the police, which does not was not church policy in the 1970s-1990s. He was not acting as a free agent but was following the practices used by the church at that time.

When personally accused of abuse, he retired from ministry, which was the policy he adopted as bishop for all accused priests and he applied it to himself. He had hoped his own case would be resolved and he would be exonerated now. He is 84 years old and his case could end up in court for many years to come. He also does not want a settlement that would not allow him to be exonerated.

The church should investigate the personal charges against him and expeditiously exonerate him if those charges are baseless, as the bishop says and many of us believe they are.

MICHAEL BURGESSDelmar, New York

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Regarding the article on Bishop Howard Hubbard, I want to speak for Howard the man. I was an active Catholic priest for 18 years. I’m not writing about his leadership or how the Catholic Church deals with sexual abuse, but about Howard Hubbard, the good, honest man I’ve known for over 60 years.

The allegation of his deviant behavior is completely irrelevant to this man. I was Howard’s assistant in the chapel at Camp Tekawitha while we were both in seminary, then in Rome for two years before he was ordained a priest and before I returned after my ordination.

During my 18 years as a priest, before and after I resigned to get married, I worked with Howard on social and criminal justice issues. Throughout, he was a very spiritual and devoted priest and a bishop of integrity. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him swear, drink too much, or spend time bashing other people. The idea that he celebrates in presbyteries seems absurd to me. Regardless of his leadership qualities, Howard is a straight arrow.

JIM MURPHYScotland, New York

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Reading the article might prompt one to think about what could be another selfish cleric looking out for his best interests rather than a church-wide conspiracy. How many denied their guilt until their last breath brought the church down with them?

Depending on his character, he can go to one of two extremes if he is truthful. Otherwise, his options expand as we’ve seen so often with others.

First, humbly submit to processes inside and outside the church. This means cooperating fully, ie facilitating the process by providing whatever is needed in a timely manner. This is the way the Gospel demands, yet we know the church rejects it. The article says the church has refused to turn over evidence affirming “religious freedom.” It’s the lie the church has built for decades to hide behind when it breaks secular laws, thereby shielding it from prosecution. It places the church above the law allowing it to commit a wide range of crimes without fear of punishment.

Because Hubbard controls his own destiny, he had the ability to cooperate outside of the legal actions of the official church. It can indicate the existence of documents, their place of conservation and the nature of their contents. He can reveal what he did and what he ordered to be done and by whom. The article doesn’t say it’s done. Therefore, he is uncooperative in the New York State investigation.

His second option is to manage his career by making end-of-life decisions that allow him to go in the direction he chooses. It is to be expected that he will have two legal teams, secular and canonical. Weighing their advice, he chose this second option. The New York State courts will proceed like so many others with the obstruction of the Catholic Church and Hubbard hiding behind their well-scripted defense. It will cost millions of dollars and cause unnecessary psychological trauma and re-traumatization of its survivors/victims, their families and loved ones. Will their stories and legal proceedings be part of Hubbard’s secularization petition?

MICHAEL J. MCDERMOTT Tyler, Texas

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