Bernard Anthony Hebda (born September 3, 1959) is an American
prelate
A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...
of the Roman Catholic Church who has served as the twelfth ordinary of the
Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...
since March 24, 2016.
Prior to his installation as the archbishop of the
Twin Cities
Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in statu ...
, Hebda had served as both the
Apostolic Administrator
An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...
of that archdiocese since June 2015, as well as the
Coadjutor Archbishop The term coadjutor (or coadiutor, literally "co-assister" in Latin) is a title qualifier indicating that the holder shares the office with another person, with powers equal to the other in all but formal order of precedence.
These include:
* Coadj ...
of the
Archdiocese of Newark
The Archdiocese of Newark is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in northeastern New Jersey, United States. Its ecclesiastic territory includes all of the Catholic parishes and Catholic school, schools ...
since September 2013. Before that, he was the Bishop of the
Diocese of Gaylord
The Diocese of Gaylord ( la, Diœcesis Gaylordensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the Northern Michigan region of the United States. It comprises the twenty-one most northern counties of the lo ...
from 2009-2013, as well as in the
Roman Curia on the
Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts
The Dicastery for Legislative Texts, formerly named Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, is a dicastery of the Roman Curia. It is distinct from the highest tribunal or court in the Church, which is the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Sign ...
.
Besides English, he speaks Italian and knows Latin, French, and Spanish.
Early life and education
Hebda was born in
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, in 1959 in the community of Brookline. He attended South Hills Catholic High School (now
Seton-La Salle Catholic High School
Seton LaSalle Catholic High School is a private, Roman Catholic high school in Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh.
In 2016, under the direction of former sc ...
), and then attended
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
, where he earned a BA in political science in 1980. He earned a
JD from
Columbia Law School
Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...
at the Parker School of Foreign and Comparative Law in 1983.
He entered the seminary and studied
philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
at the Saint Paul Seminary in Pittsburgh from 1984 to 1985. He lived at the
Pontifical North American College
The Pontifical North American College (NAC) is a Catholic Church, Roman Catholic educational institution in Rome, Italy, that prepares seminarians to become priests in the United States and elsewhere. The NAC also provides a residence for Pri ...
in Rome and attended the
Pontifical Gregorian University
The Pontifical Gregorian University ( it, Pontificia Università Gregoriana; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana,) is a higher education ecclesiastical school ( pontifical university) located in Rome, Italy.
The Gregorian originated as ...
, where he earned a
Bachelor of Sacred Theology The Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology ( la, Sacrae Theologiae Baccalaureus; abbreviated STB), not to be confused with a Bachelor of Arts in Theology, is the first of three ecclesiastical degrees in theology (the second being the Licentiate in Sacred ...
(1985–1988) and a
licentiate in
Canon Law
Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...
(1988–1990).
Priesthood
On July 1, 1989, he was ordained a priest for the
Diocese of Pittsburgh, where he held the following positions: assistant priest at the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Ellwood City (1989), personal secretary to Bishop
Donald Wuerl
Donald William Wuerl (born November 12, 1940) is an American prelate, a cardinal, of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Washington, D.C., from 2006 to 2018. He was elevated by Pope John Paul II to serve as auxiliary bishop of S ...
and Master of Ceremonies (1990–1992), and pastor
''in solidum'' at the Prince of Peace Parish in Pittsburgh (South Side) (1992–1995), Judge of the Diocesan Tribunal (1992–1996), and Director of the Newman Center at
Slippery Rock University
Slippery Rock University, formally Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania (The Rock or SRU), is a public university in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania. SRU is a member of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE). The university ...
(1995–1996).
He worked in Rome at the
Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts
The Dicastery for Legislative Texts, formerly named Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, is a dicastery of the Roman Curia. It is distinct from the highest tribunal or court in the Church, which is the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Sign ...
beginning on September 10, 1996. On February 16, 2000, he was named a
monsignor
Monsignor (; it, monsignore ) is an honorific form of address or title for certain male clergy members, usually members of the Roman Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" ca ...
. From 2003 he served as under-secretary of the Pontifical Council.
In Rome, Hebda was also an adjunct spiritual director at the Pontifical North American College and confessor to the
Missionaries of Charity
The Missionaries of Charity ( la, Congregatio Missionariarum a Caritate) is a Catholic centralized religious institute of consecrated life of Pontifical Right for women
established in 1950 by Mother Teresa, now known in the Catholic Church as ...
. He lived at the Villa Stritch, a residence for American priests working for the
Holy See
The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...
. On October 16, 2009, following the announcement of his appointment as a bishop, the community at the Pontifical North American College presented him with a
pectoral cross
A pectoral cross or pectorale (from the Latin ''pectoralis'', "of the chest") is a cross that is worn on the chest, usually suspended from the neck by a cord or chain. In ancient and medieval times pectoral crosses were worn by both clergy and ...
and
crosier
A crosier or crozier (also known as a paterissa, pastoral staff, or bishop's staff) is a stylized staff that is a symbol of the governing office of a bishop or abbot and is carried by high-ranking prelates of Roman Catholic, Eastern Catholi ...
.
Episcopacy
Diocese of Gaylord
Bishop
On October 7, 2009,
Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...
named Hebda the fourth
Bishop of Gaylord, Michigan. Hebda was consecrated to the episcopate and installed in the Diocese on December 1, 2009, at
Saint Mary, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral. In November 2013, Hebda was elected to chair the Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance of the
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States. Founded in 1966 as the joint National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and United States Catholic Conference (US ...
(USCCB).
Archdiocese of Newark
Coadjutor Archbishop
Hebda was appointed as Coadjutor Archbishop of Newark on September 24, 2013, where Archbishop
John Myers said he had asked for the appointment of someone to assist him as he approached retirement age. Hebda chose a dormitory at
Seton Hall University
Seton Hall University (SHU) is a private Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Seton Hall is the oldest diocesan un ...
as his residence. He defended Myers against complaints he had spent an extravagant amount on living quarters for his retirement, noting he had lived in shared quarters at the cathedral rectory in Newark for thirteen years.
Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
Apostolic Administrator
![Archbishop Bernard Hebda](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/Archbishop_Bernard_Hebda.jpg)
On June 15, 2015, Pope Francis accepted the resignations of Archbishop
John Clayton Nienstedt
John Clayton Nienstedt (born March 18, 1947) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the eighth archbishop of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis in Minnesota from 2008 to 2015. He previously served as bishop o ...
and Auxiliary Bishop
Lee A. Piché of
Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...
, who cited the provision of
Canon Law
Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...
that advises the resignation of a bishop who "become
less able to fulfill his office because of ill health or some other grave cause". The same day Pope Francis appointed Hebda its
Apostolic Administrator
An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...
to serve until a new archbishop would be installed, although Hebda remained as the Coadjutor Archbishop of Newark.
In September Hebda met with representatives of the Minnesota chapter of the Catholic Coalition for Church Reform, a group his predecessor had not been warm to. They discussed how the laity could participate in defining the needs of the archdiocese and what it expects from its next archbishop. Hebda "was delighted to learn that they share my interest in engaging in a wide consultation of the faithful in assessing the needs of the archdiocese" and "I was also happy to share with them some of the preliminary plans for that consultation, and appreciated their input and offer of collaboration." He organized a series of public meetings – "listening sessions" – throughout the diocese to allow Catholic parishioners, clergy, and employees to express their views on the appointment of a new archbishop.
During his term as administrator, the Archdiocese reached agreement on a civil settlement with officials of
Ramsey County on procedures to prevent child sexual abuse. It provided for judicial oversight for three years. The civil case was settled in December under a plan that allowed for more oversight of the church. Attorneys for both sides used the hearing process in the civil case to announce new steps aimed at reinforcing that agreement. "The Archdiocese admits that it failed to adequately respond and prevent the sexual abuse" of the three victims, the archdiocese said in papers filed in Ramsey County Court. "The Archdiocese failed to keep the safety and wellbeing of these three children ahead of protecting the interests of Curtis Wehmeyer and the Archdiocese. The actions and omissions of the Archdiocese failed to prevent the abuse that resulted in the need for protection and services for these three children." In a letter to Catholics in the archdiocese Hebda wrote: "We are agreeing to implement the plan under a set deadline and to be held accountable for that commitment." He called the settlement "the most public indicator that this archdiocese has earnestly embarked on a journey of self-reflection, evaluation and action". In his time as administrator, less than a year, he handled a number of cases of priests charged with sexual abuse of minors, both removing and reinstating them.
Archbishop
On March 24, 2016, he was named Archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, at which point his appointment as Coadjutor Archbishop of Newark ended. He was installed in the
Cathedral of Saint Paul on May 13, 2016.
A major defining aspect of his episcopal service in the Twin Cities has been the continuing legal processes surrounding the fallout of the sexual abuse crisis in the archdiocese. Before his arrival, in January of 2015, the archdiocese had filed for
chapter 11 bankruptcy
Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, whe ...
. In September of 2018, the archdiocese's Bankruptcy-Exit plan was approved by a federal judge; by the end of the year, the archbishop announced that it was officially out of bankruptcy.
Following the conclusion of this process, in the summer of 2019, Archbishop Hebda announced that he would be calling an
archdiocesan synod. This would be the first synod held in the archdiocese in eight decades; in his initial announcement on June 7, Hebda said that, "In the time that
e has
E, or e, is the fifth letter and the second vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''e'' (pronounced ); plura ...
served in this archdiocese,
e has
E, or e, is the fifth letter and the second vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''e'' (pronounced ); plura ...
come to believe that
helocal Church is particularly ripe for a synod". In a Mass the following Saturday evening for the Solemn Vigil of
Pentecost
Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christianity, Christian holiday which takes place on the 50th day (the seventh Sunday) after Easter Sunday. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles in the Ne ...
, Hebda formally announced that a synod would take place; two years later, at a Mass commemorating the same holy day, the synod was officially convoked. In his decree beginning the synodal process, Hebda stated that it is planned to culminate during June of 2022 with an Archdiocesan Synodal Assembly.
See also
*
Catholic Church hierarchy
The hierarchy of the Catholic Church consists of its bishops, priests, and deacons. In the ecclesiological sense of the term, "hierarchy" strictly means the "holy ordering" of the Church, the Body of Christ, so to respect the diversity of gif ...
*
Catholic Church in the United States
With 23 percent of the United States' population , the Catholic Church is the country's second largest religious grouping, after Protestantism, and the country's largest single church or Christian denomination where Protestantism is divided i ...
*
Historical list of the Catholic bishops of the United States
This is a historical list of all bishops of the Catholic Church whose sees were within the present-day boundaries of the United States, with links to the bishops who consecrated them. It includes only members of the United States Conference of Cat ...
*
List of Catholic bishops of the United States
The following is a list of bishops of the Catholic Church in the United States, including its five inhabited territories.
The U.S. Catholic Church comprises:
* 176 Latin Church dioceses led by bishops
* 18 Eastern Catholic eparchies led by e ...
*
Lists of patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops
This is a directory of patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops across various Christian denominations. To find an individual who was a bishop, see the most relevant article linked below or :Bishops.
Lists
Catholic
* Bishop in the Catholic Chur ...
References
External links
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis Official Siteat Catholic-Hierarchy.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hebda, Bernard A.
1959 births
Living people
Harvard University alumni
Columbia Law School alumni
Pontifical Gregorian University alumni
Pontifical North American College alumni
Roman Catholic bishops of Gaylord
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark
Religious leaders from Pittsburgh
21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the United States