Hubbard has defended his response to abuse cases, saying that it was “common practice” in the 1970s and ‘80s to act as he did, though he acknowledged that his failure to notify the parish and the public when a priest was removed from or restored to ministry was a “mistake.”
Writing in August 2021, he said that sending priests to “nationally accredited treatment facilities rather than reporting the allegations to local law enforcement authorities” was the “common practice” in the 1970s and ‘80s, and that in a majority of the cases “the victims themselves did not want to make the matter public and many times sought confidentiality through their attorneys.”
“While we never condoned, ignored or took lightly sexual abuse of minors, we did not respond as quickly, as knowledgeably and as compassionately as we should have, and for that I am sincerely sorry,” Hubbard wrote in 2021.
“My most fervent prayer each day is that victim/survivors and their families will find healing, reconciliation and peace in God’s love and that we as a church and a society will learn from this tragedy.”
Hubbard currently faces a Vos estis investigation, a Vatican-ordered investigation into allegations that he committed sexual abuse. The 2019 document Vos estis lux mundi contained Pope Francis’ norms for investigating allegations of episcopal misconduct.
An anonymous plaintiff in March filed a lawsuit against Hubbard, alleging that Hubbard molested him in 1977, soon after his installation as bishop. The lawsuit named the diocese as well as St. Edward the Confessor Catholic Church in Clifton Park, New York.
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