ALBANY — There is still plenty of time for assessments of Bishop Edward Scharfenberger’s 11-year tenure as head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany before the new fellow, Mark O’Connell, is installed in early December.
But I doubt many observers, Catholic or not, would dispute that Scharfenberger oversaw one of the most consequential and challenging periods in the 178-year history of the diocese — a time of turmoil and pain that continues with bankruptcy proceedings yet to be settled.
Back in 2014, when Scharfenberger was appointed, more than a generation of area Catholics had known no Albany bishop other than Howard Hubbard. He had been the bishop for nearly four decades and, for better and worse, had shaped the Albany diocese in his image. He would never be easy to follow…