ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10)– The 11th Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany has been announced. On Monday, Pope Leo XIV named Bishop Mark O’Connell, JCD, as the next Bishop of the Albany Diocese.
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O’Connell is a current Auxiliary Bishop in the Archdiocese of Boston. He was introduced to the Albany Diocese on Monday at the Pastoral Center. You can watch the event in the videoplayer above.
The current bishop, Edward Scharfenberger, has led the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany for 11 years. During Monday’s press conference, Scharfenberger said that he submitted his resignation to Pope Francis on his 75th birthday on May 29, 2023.
“I’m not leaving the Diocese, I’m not planning on going anywhere,” Scharfenberger said. “These 11 years have been wonderful years and I love the people of this Diocese, I love the work that I do, and I’ll be happy to be able to do a lot of the work that I’ve always wanted to do.”
The announcement comes days after the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany settled for $8 million in a child sexual abuse lawsuit. In a statement made Friday, the Diocese said they don’t argue that abuse happened…