Cuomo, clergy all smiles after meeting

ALBANY -- Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo atoned for a scheduling mix-up by hosting Catholic bishops Tuesday at the Executive Mansion. When they emerged, it was all smiles and few details.

No talk about the scheduling conflict. Or same-sex marriage. And nothing about the hubbub triggered by a Vatican adviser who recently said Cuomo should not be allowed to receive communion because he lives with his girlfriend, food TV star Sandra Lee.

"We have to be sensitive pastorally to every person and their own particular situation and when it comes to judging worthiness for communion, we do not comment on either a public figure or a private figure," said Albany Bishop Howard Hubbard. "That is something between the communicant and his pastor."

Cuomo met with Hubbard, along with New York City Archbishop Timothy Dolan and Rockville Centre Bishop William Murphy, and other officials from the state Catholic Conference. A day earlier, Cuomo aides told the bishops the governor wouldn't be able to meet with them for their annual lobbying day at the Capitol, leading some to suspect a snub. But Cuomo aides said they at first weren't aware the bishops would also be in Albany Tuesday and a luncheon was quickly put together.

"It worked out better for us -- we got lunch," Dolan quipped, adding that the "salmon was good, the cheesecake was great."

But the bishops said they did not get into details about some of the thornier issues they might have with the governor. They didn't talk about Cuomo's support for same-sex marriage or the governor's marital status.

Dolan called it a "delicate pastoral issue" better suited to personal discussions. "Do we dodge those issues? No, we don't. But this isn't the time or the place."

"Frankly, there is a disagreement among bishops about whether it, the communion line, is a place for confrontation," Hubbard added. "And I don't think the bishops of New York think that's appropriate."

Dolan said they did raise issues about the impact of Cuomo's proposed budget cuts on the needy and nonpublic schools, and said they felt he heard their concerns.

"We were just happy to be there and he was, too," Dolan said.

A Cuomo spokesman said the governor looked forward to working with the bishops in the future.