Bishop-elect Edward B. Scharfenberger will officially be ordained a bishop on Thursday, April 10, at 2 p.m. at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Albany, N.Y.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, will be the main consecrator. Co-consecrators will include Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn and Bishop Emeritus Howard J. Hubbard of Albany.
More than two dozen bishops and 200 priests will be in the line of procession. Also scheduled to attend is Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, Apostolic Nuncio to the U.S., who will read the decree of appointment from Pope Francis.
Three buses from Brooklyn and Queens will carry at least 108 people to the ceremony. Each parish in Albany has been asked to send two representatives. The historic cathedral seats 1,200.
The ordination and installation ceremony and Mass will be broadcast live on NET-TV, Ch. 97 on Time Warner and Ch. 30 on Cablevision. It will also be streamed live online at netny.net/watch-now.
There will be a vespers service the night before the ordination at St. Pius X parish in Loudonville, N.Y., at which the bishop-elect will take his oath of fidelity, and his miter, crosier and ring will be blessed. Several bishops will be in attendance.
When Bishop Scharfenberger arrives at the cathedral, he will ceremonially knock on the door to announce his presence and ask permission to enter. When the congregation gives its approval, he will process into the church to be greeted by the faithful.
Following the procession, Cardinal Dolan will greet the congregation with the following words:
“We gather today to ordain our brother, Edward, to the ministry of Bishop. We rejoice in the knowledge that God has given his people a shepherd according to the tradition of the Apostles.
“In the spirit of joy we now pray: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
During the ceremony, the new bishop will pledge obedience to the pope, and he will pledge faithfulness to the Gospel and the “deposit of faith” as handed on by the Apostles.
Cardinal Dolan and Bishops DiMarzio and Hubbard will place their hands on the head of the candidate signifying the unbroken line of episcopal succession from the Apostles.
The new bishop’s head will be anointed with Chrism, one of the holy oils that is blessed each year during Holy Week at the annual Chrism Mass. He also will be presented the Book of the Gospels and his ring, miter and crosier. Then he will be led to the cathedra, or bishop’s chair, the official seat of the diocesan bishop.
After Communion, the new bishop will be led throughout the church by Bishops DiMarzio and Hubbard as he bestows his blessing on those in attendance.
That evening, a reception will be held in his honor at The Egg at the Empire State Plaza.
