ALBANY — THE BROOKLYN-BORN BISHOP OF ALBANY’S ROMAN CATHOLICS HAS OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCED HIS RETIREMENT, The Tablet announced on Monday.
Pope Leo XIV on Oct. 20 accepted the resignation of Bishop Edward Scharfenberger, 77, from the pastoral governance of the Diocese of Albany, where he served since 2014, when Pope Francis named him Bishop of Albany.
Ordained a priest for the Diocese of Brooklyn by Bishop James Hickey on July 2, 1973, at St. Peter’s Basilica, Scharfenberger in 1995 was named as Prelate of Honor (monsignor). He served as Judicial Vicar for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn from 1993 to 2002, and was a frequent participant in the annual Red Mass for the judiciary and law community. Then-Monsignor Scharfenberger also served in a number of pastoral and administrative positions while in the Brooklyn Diocese. Bishop Scharfenberger has served as a consultor to the Pontifical Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews and has served on several committees of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops…