NEW JERSEY
NJ.com
By Jessica Mazzola | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
NEWARK — News that Archbishop Bernard Hebda has left New Jersey for good has left Catholics in the Garden State wondering who will eventually lead the state’s largest Archdiocese.
“I was devastated,” Fr. Alex Santora of Our Lady of Grace in Hoboken said of how he felt when he learned of Pope Francis’s decision Thursday to appoint Hebda the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.
“I think I can speak for a lot of priests that I’ve talked to who feel that (Hebda) raised the expectations for what could be in our Archdiocese.”
Hebda came to New Jersey in 2013, when Pope Francis named him Coadjutor Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Newark, and successor to current Archbishop John J. Myers, who is expected to retire in July.
Hebda’s personality and style, Santora said, instilled a “sense of excitement” amongst local clergy members about the impending “transition” to Hebda’s leadership. “Now, that has been dashed.”
Last year, while still serving in Newark, Hebda was appointed to also serve as Apostolic Administrator in the Twin Cities. Hebda was brought in amidst a sex scandal in Minnesota that saw the resignation of former Archbishop John Nienstedt. The appointment led to speculation that Hebda would not remain in Newark, though he assured local Catholics that the post was temporary.
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