HUBBARD DENIES 2ND ALLEGATION

ALBANY (NY)
The New Evangelist

Sept. 17, 2019

By Mike Matvey

Bishop Emeritus Howard J. Hubbard has been accused in a second lawsuit, alleging that he sexually abused a girl in the rectory of the Immaculate Conception Church in Schenectady along with two other priests in the 1970s.

Bishop Hubbard, who was previously named in a lawsuit alleging he sexually abused a teenage boy in the 1990s, released a statement Monday night reiterating again that he has “never sexually abused anyone.”

“As I stated before and I repeat that I have never sexually abused anyone of any age at any time,” Hubbard said in the statement. “I do not assert that the individuals that have accused me have not been abused. Surely, the abuse they have described is horrific and heartbreaking.

“During my 37 years of episcopal tenure as Bishop of Albany, I met with many survivors of abuse and heard firsthand the pain that they suffered at the time of the abuse and its consequences over the years. As Bishop, I acted on every complaint of sexual abuse that I received and commissioned investigations of those allegations.

“I am confident that through these fair due process procedures truth and justice will prevail and I will be fully exonerated.”

Mary DeTurris Poust, director of communications, called the new allegations “deeply troubling” which will be investigated.

“The allegations contained in this lawsuit are deeply troubling and will be investigated without fear or favor. It is important to remember that, like anyone else, Bishop Emeritus Howard J. Hubbard enjoys the presumption of innocence until and unless proven otherwise. The Diocese of Albany will keep its focus on survivors and on trying to get to the truth of the matter in each and every case that is filed,” DeTurris Poust said.

“In this particular case, Bishop Scharfenberger is in the process of informing Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, who serves as Metropolitan for our province, as well as the papal nuncio regarding the allegations as they relate to Bishop Hubbard, in keeping with the requirements set forward by Pope Francis in the document known as Vos Estis.”

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