The official change of leadership for the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese took place Thursday afternoon at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Albany.
Hundreds of priests and bishops joined parishoners for the ordination of Rev. Monsignor Edward Scharfenberger of the Diocese of Brooklyn to watch him become the 10th Bishop of the Diocese of Albany. Scharfenberger was hand-selected to replace the retiring Howard Hubbard by Pope Francis.
The Albany Diocese has spent nearly four decades under Bishop Hubbard who reached mandatory retiremant age 75 October 31st, when he turned in his resignation to Pope Francis.
Scharfenberger, who is 65, has held a number of parish and administrative positions in New York City.
The Albany diocese has about 330,000 parishioners across 14 counties.
