Howard Hubbard

Howard James Hubbard (October 31, 1938 – August 19, 2023) was a Roman Catholic prelate from the U.S. state of New York who served as bishop of The Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany from 1977 to 2014.

A Troy, New York native, Hubbard was ordained as a priest in 1963. He founded a drug rehabilitation center and a crisis intervention center, worked as a "street priest" in Albany's South End, and served as vicar general of The Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany. In 1977, Hubbard was appointed and consecrated as bishop of Albany. He was the youngest Catholic bishop in the United States at that time and was dubbed "the boy bishop." Hubbard chaired the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Committee for International Justice and Peace and served on the Subcommittees on the Catholic Campaign for Human Development and the Church in Africa. He was appointed by Pope John Paul II to the Vatican's Secretariat for Non-Christians (later known as the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue). Known as a liberal bishop, Hubbard was a supporter of the ecumenical movement; he also led an organization called New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty. Hubbard was criticized for his handling of the clergy sex abuse crisis; in 2013, he apologized for his shortcomings and lack of transparency in this regard.

In 2004, Hubbard was accused of having engaged in homosexual activity with adult males. He denied the accusations, and an external investigation led by a former U.S. attorney found no credible evidence to support them. After the Child Victims Act was signed into law in New York in 2019, multiple plaintiffs filed lawsuits alleging that Hubbard had engaged in child sexual abuse. Hubbard denied the allegations and took a voluntary leave of absence from public ministry. In 2022, Hubbard petitioned the Vatican for laicization; his request was not granted. He married a woman in a civil ceremony shortly before his death in 2023.