MINNESOTA
National Catholic Reporter
Brian Roewe | Mar. 24, 2016
Bernard Hebda woke up Tuesday morning a prelate with two temporary titles — apostolic administrator to the St. Paul-Minneapolis archdiocese and coadjutor archbishop in Newark, N.J. — attached to his name. By the day’s end, a third replaced both: archbishop-designate of St. Paul-Minneapolis.
“I am humbled once again by Pope Francis’ confidence in me in calling me to this local church, which has been so influential and important in the upper Midwest,” he said during a press conference held inside the Cathedral of St. Paul.
The announcement Thursday morning of Hebda’s appointment as the 11th archbishop of the Twin Cities answered one question: Who would succeed Archbishop John Nienstedt who resigned last June under the shadow of an ongoing clergy sexual abuse scandal and related bankruptcy filing and criminal charges. But the announcement raised another: Who will Hebda, no longer just a passerby in the historically important archdiocese, become as a now-rooted resident?
“How will he present himself as an archbishop, now that he’s got the powers of office and permanence?” asked Charles Reid, a law professor at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis whose said his initial impressions of Hebda have been fairly positive, viewing him as careful and conciliatory. “Will he change now that he’s an archbishop?”
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.