Leading ‘the Church that Christ wants us to be’
Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit
May 26, 2016 The Catholic Spirit • 35
A
Our New Archbishop
month before his installation as Archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Archbishop Bernard Hebda sat down with The Catholic Spirit for a broad interview. He spoke about his mentors, his life before the seminary, and his hopes and prayers for the archdiocese. The interview was edited for length and clarity. Interview by Jessica Trygstad and Maria Wiering • The Catholic Spirit
Q A
You’ve had a few weeks to process this appointment. What are your hopes and expectations now?
Q A
How do you see your role in the archdiocese beyond the Catholic community?
I certainly hope I’m going to be able to live up to expectations. I’ve really been overwhelmed by the amount of support that I’ve received, certainly the excitement about starting something new. It’s awfully hard to be leaving Newark and the people there who were so welcoming to me, but I’m truly excited about being here. And I have been trying to get my head around some of the immediate challenges that we have before us and trying to get everything ready for May 13.
I nteresting that you would ask that because I know that’s one of the things I haven’t really been able to address very much as the administrator, because I didn’t have the time. But I’m really anxious to get to know the people who are beyond our Catholic community and to see how it is we might together play a role in continuing the really great community that I’ve already experienced here. But I desire to know more.
Q A
I n some ways, it was great because it gave me an appreciation for how hard everybody has to work at whatever it is they’re doing. It also gave me some interesting experiences in terms of what the Church might be experiencing in the world. For example, whether it be in studying political science, where you come to know our governmental system and the history of that, or whether it be specifically in the study of law, there are all kinds of areas where the Church is implicated and where the life of the Church can be sustained. For me, that was helpful. But especially, it was meeting a broad cross-section of God’s children — people of all different beliefs, all different perspectives, and recognizing they were out there. As a child and teenager, I very much had a life that was focused on my parish and on my Catholic schools, and so to be in a situation where not everybody was Catholic, not everybody was from Pittsburgh, not everybody loved the Steelers, was wonderful in the sense of broadening my understanding of the world. And that really engaged me more when I was discerning priesthood as well, recognizing how important it was going to be that there would be people who would be able to explain the faith and who would be willing to continue the Church’s great service in a way that really reflected the great tradition that was the Catholic Church.
Q A
Dianne Towalski/For The Catholic Spirit
Q A
Who was your most significant mentor?
I had some really wonderful teachers, both in grade school and in high school. And I would say that they were the people who really encouraged me to try to excel academically and also just to get involved in all kinds of different activities. And it’s interesting, too, because you don’t always appreciate things when you’re experiencing them. One of the toughest teachers I had in grade school ended up being a real inspiration to me later in life. She was a Sister of Charity, very selfless in her ministry [with a] real attentiveness to the poor, focusing especially on the plight of migrant workers. I feel blessed to have re-connected with her at the end of high school and then was blessed to work with her years later in parish ministry.
How does having work and life experience outside of the seminary and priesthood shape your priesthood?
Describe your early pastoral experiences and what you learned.
ight after I was ordained a priest, I was assigned to a small Italian parish R in a community called Ellwood City, which was a little bit like Brigadoon — nobody had ever heard of it in my family. It was about an hour and 15 minutes outside of Pittsburgh. It was the first time in my life I hadn’t lived in an urban area; just to once again have that experience of a different kind of life. I worked with a great pastor who was very patient with me as I was bringing all of the ideas I had learned in Rome into parish life. I thought that I knew everything, and Father Joe [Dascenzo] managed to convince me that wasn’t true in a way that was gentle enough that enabled me to engage with the great parishioners there, who were also wonderful teachers and got me excited about being a priest. So that would have been my first pastoral experience as a priest. One of the things that I had really appreciated from that pastor and that experience was seeing how important it was that the priest really know the people in the parish. I think in the context of a small community, that’s a lot easier and even more expected. That really shaped my understanding of how a parish priest functions. My second pastoral assignment was in the same community where I had lived when I was a small child, the same community where my parents had grown up. At that point, the diocese was merging seven parishes into one. My mother had belonged to one of them, my father had belonged to another, and I’d been baptized in a third. So, when I was explaining that to the bishop — I wasn’t really looking to be assigned there — I could see the wheels turning in his head and he basically was thinking, “Even though it’s going to be a difficult assignment, a little bit on the contentious side, nonetheless they’ll be kind to him because he has connections in three out of the seven >>36
36 • The Catholic Spirit
Our New Archbishop
May 26, 2016
<<35
Q A
parishes.” All in all, it was a really good experience in being with people at a time of pain. Merging parishes is very difficult, especially in communities where the Church was so important to them, because the parishioners really drew their identity from their parish. And so when you first begin to talk about closing something so near and dear to them, that’s really hard. Nonetheless, trying to get them to see the bigger picture and where Christ is in the midst of all of those things, and to recognize the commonality in all of those parishes, that was a great experience, too. Being with people at a difficult time in their lives has been something that’s helped me in life as well. hat do you like most about being a W priest?
I love every part of being a priest. I really love the fact that people are so willing to share their lives with their priests. Even when you come into a new parish for the first time, people tell you things that are really at the core of their being. You’re with them when they’re losing their loved ones, you’re with them in those joyous moments when they’re baptizing their children, you’re with them as they’re making all kinds of decisions in life. For me, that’s exhilarating. I also really love the Church’s liturgy and loved getting to be the one who presides. I was a little bit anxious about preaching when I was first ordained; I’ve grown to a greater comfort with that over the years. But I love being the celebrant or the presider at liturgies, for sure. And just having that inside knowledge of how much the people in our parish were people of prayer, how much they were praying, has been an inspiration in each of my assignments.
Q A
What are your plans for growing vocations in the archdiocese?
There are two immediate things that I think are so important. First is to sustain family life, because I think our young men and young women who are discerning vocations need to really come from strong families where they appreciate the fatherly love of God, for example. To the extent that we’re able to help our families or to help our married couples to see the life that they’re living is being a life of vocation, to the extent that we’re able to get them to be praying that their children might be able to respond however God might be calling them to serve, I think that’s going to continue to have a positive impact on vocations. The second is making sure that we’re really finding those opportunities for our young people to spend great time with their
Archbishop Bernard Hebda greets Steve Hunegs, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas, during a Dec. 2, 2015, event in Minneapolis commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Vatican II document “Nostra Aetate.” Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit priests. Our priests are the very best advertisements for the priesthood. So as people come to experience the joy that so many of their priests experience in priesthood, I think it at least opens their eyes and helps them appreciate that whatever it is the Lord is calling us to do is going to be a source of joy. So, promoting family life and then looking for those opportunities — whether it be in our youth programs, our Catholic grade schools, our Catholic high schools, our religious education programs — to make sure that our young people really know the ministry of the priest and the joy that comes with that.
Q A
process we always get just the leader we need. So I get really excited about Pope Francis. I listen to him preach; it somehow goes right to my heart. I know the reaction and response that he’s receiving from so many of our lay faithful and those who aren’t even part of our Church or those who have drifted from the Church. I recognize that he’s really a man who’s very perceptive — he’s brilliant as well — but he really has a sense of human nature and is so attentive to the movements of the Holy Spirit in his own life. So, I’m trusting that he’s leading us in a way that’s going to bring growth to the Church, bring joy to the Church and be just where the Lord wants us.
Q A
You’ve jokingly said that people say you “quote Pope Francis too much.” What kind of influence has our Holy Father had on your priesthood?
I’ve been really blessed because there have been three popes in the period that I have been a priest and I’ve loved all three of them. I’ve looked to all three of them for leadership in forming my own ministry, really seeing in each of them somebody who is totally committed to following Christ. I figure that if I can follow their lead, I’m going to be acting in conformity with Christ and aligned with Christ. Certainly that was the case with St. John Paul II, whom I had really grown to love as a seminarian living in Rome. And with Pope Benedict [XVI], I had worked with him a little bit when he was Cardinal [Joseph] Ratzinger, so I already had a deep appreciation for his great gift and his intellect and was just delighted when he was elected Holy Father. I was in St. Peter’s Square that evening, and I was just so excited. I was just as excited when Pope Francis was elected, just knowing how much God loves his Church and knowing how active is the Holy Spirit and that somehow through that whole
T he sisters really inspire me. I’ve had the opportunity to go once for Mass here in Minneapolis, and they have the same spirit that I had encountered when I was working in Rome. In Rome, my involvement was more educational work . . . but I was also privileged to serve as a confessor for a lot of the sisters. Mother Teresa had the wonderful insight that it would be good for all of her sisters to share a common language, so even though they came from all over the world, she insisted that they speak to one another in English, and that they have Mass in English, and that they would go to confession in English. As a result, her communities are always looking for English-speaking priests. Once they found one, they kind of got their claws into him and used him a lot. I remember that they loved Bishop [Andrew] Cozzens, who was so generous with them [while he was a priest studying in Rome]. I was really inspired by the sisters’ joy, their commitment to doing the humble work in the Church, their perseverance — and I hope that I take a little bit of that with me. I really was delighted to learn that the sisters are here in the archdiocese.
Q A
You were a spiritual director while in Rome for the Missionaries of Charity. Describe that experience and what you learned. Do you hope to have a relationship with the Missionaries of Charity who are here in the archdiocese?
What did you learn in Gaylord and Newark about being a bishop, and how will you apply that to your work here?
T hose poor people in Gaylord were so patient with me. I didn’t know anything about being a bishop. I had just come from working in an office in the Vatican, and I had never been a vicar general of a diocese. I had never really been involved in diocesan administration, so everything was brand new. Nonetheless, the faithful of Gaylord were very patient teachers. . . . We only had about >>37
May 26, 2016 The Catholic Spirit • 37
Our New Archbishop
<<36
Q A
80 parishes, so I was able to know the leadership in those parishes, and they knew me; they wouldn’t think twice about calling on me as they would on their pastor. So, it was a different level of relationship than would ordinarily be experienced in a large archdiocese. Just seeing how it is that the Lord manages to do great things in challenging circumstances was marvelous. I really appreciated that opportunity, and I began to grow into the liturgical role of being a bishop there, learning about confirmations and ordinations and those sort of things. I’m so grateful for their patience. Newark was a much different reality. Much more urban, much more an experience of an immigrant Church, much more an experience of a Church where people have pressing material needs. In parts of the archdiocese, there were great difficulties in the schools and all of the challenges that come with poverty. I was grateful that the experience helped me to realize how important it would be for the Church to be present to people in their moments of need. I think it was also very helpful — indeed, opening my eyes a little bit — to recognize how important it is that we really walk with people in those challenging times. Even when we’re not able to speak a language in common with somebody, we can still be present to each other. A pastoral love can sustain a relationship even when the cultures are different. We have a very diverse archdiocese. How might you work to create unity while embracing those differences?
Part of the challenge is just getting to know what those differences are and getting to know people. I’m hoping to spend a lot of my time in these first few months getting to know our parishes, getting to know the different flavors of the different parts of the archdiocese. I think working on unity has to be a priority, and I’m thinking that is going to come through working on building greater unity among our priests. To the extent that we’re going to be able to achieve greater unity among our priests, I think that we will have a greater opportunity of building unity in our parishes as well. As we focus on the things that are most important to all of us — certainly it’s our relationship with Christ, prayer, sacraments, a tradition of service — I think those things will unify us as well. I’m thinking that I might begin by refocusing an emphasis on the basics. I’m reluctant to quote Pope Francis, but in “The Joy of the Gospel,” he encourages us to preach the “kerygma,” sharing the core of the Gospel message: that God loves us, that Christ died and rose for us, and that he’ll be with us to
the end of time. I am hoping that when we focus on that core, it’s going to be a lot easier to achieve unity because we would be beginning with something we all agree on.
Q A
Some local Catholics have criticized some of your decisions as apostolic administrator and continue to be generally distrusting of archdiocesan leadership. How will you work to maintain dialogue and trust?
I’m not surprised that there would be disagreement, or that there would still be distrust. I realize that trust has to be earned, and I’m hoping that I’ll be able to do that even as I make some mistakes. But I’m
mercy, God’s tender mercy. That’s certainly so important. I think if we’re committed to recognizing our own weaknesses, recognizing what God has done for us and being willing to reach out to others with that same kind of love, I think that we’re going to have joy in our own hearts, and that’s going to be contagious as well. So, that’s my prayer.
Q A
What do you need from Catholics here?
I need prayers. Certainly, that’s one of the things that I’ve been overwhelmed by — I can’t believe how many people say, “Bishop, we’re praying for you. We’ve been praying even before we began the process of choosing
Archbishop Bernard Hebda confirms a youth April 17 at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. Dianne Towalski/ For The Catholic Spirit
Q A
hoping that as people see I’m trying to do my very best and trying always to work for the good of the Church, they’ll be more tolerant of those mistakes and more patient and willing to help me see other perspectives, so I can make even better decisions. I’m hoping that if people see me as a pastor who’s really committed to his flock, a pastor who really desires the best for them, that there would be an opportunity to rebuild trust. It’s going to take some time. I’m hoping that it will just flow from our life together as part of the same community. What’s your prayer for this archdiocese?
My prayer is that we might be the Church that Christ wants us to be, that we might be able to respond to people in need as Christ desires, that we might reflect the universality of the Church, that we might in a solid way reflect the history of the Church, that we might be instruments of hope. In this Year of Mercy, we have been speaking so much about
a new bishop, we were praying that the Lord would send us the right shepherd, whoever that would be, and we’re certainly praying for you now, that you might have the strength you need, and the wisdom.” All of those things are really encouraging to me. I’ve already come to experience the people of the archdiocese being great prayers, and just knowing that I’m part of that is a real consolation. One of the interesting things, you know, is that the Church has the people pray for the bishop every time Mass is celebrated. That’s also the case for an apostolic administrator. So the first time that I offered Mass here in the archdiocese, I realized that all these people are praying for me every time they come for Mass. I realized that despite my own weaknesses, despite the lacuna in my education, in my experience, somehow with all of these people praying for me, I’m not going to be making such huge mistakes, and somehow or another, the Lord’s will is going to be done, simply because of their great faith. So, that’s what I’m hoping for.
38 • The Catholic Spirit
Our New Archbishop
1 From left, Andrew and Katie Nath of St. Mary in Stillwater greet Archbishop Bernard Hebda at Relevant Radio’s annual Christ Brings Hope award banquet April 14 in Bloomington. 2A rchbishop Hebda delivers the homily during Holy Thursday Mass March 24, the day he was appointed to the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. 3A rchbishop Hebda hands a certificate to Kathy Lerick of St. John the Baptist in Savage at the Archbishop Harry J. Flynn Catechetical Institute graduation May 10 at the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity in St. Paul. In the background is class coordinator Teresa Gockowski. 4A rchbishop Hebda sprinkles holy water on students, faculty and staff of St. Agnes School in St. Paul Oct. 8, 2015, during a ribbon-cutting ceremony to open the school’s new addition. Photos by Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit
May 26, 2016
1
Around the
Archdiocese
2
3
4
5
6 5A rchbishop Bernard Hebda blesses those attending Mass on Easter Sunday March 27 at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis. Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit
6A rchbishop Hebda offers Communion during Mass at St. Rita in Cottage Grove April 17 to celebrate the parish’s 50th anniversary. Dianne Towalski/For The Catholic Spirit
7 7 Archbishop Hebda talks to students at Ascension Catholic School in north Minneapolis April 22 during a visit that included Gov. Mark Dayton. Dave Hrbacek/ The Catholic Spirit
40 • The Catholic Spirit
Our New Archbishop
May 26, 2016
Ordaining deacons Archbishop Bernard Hebda lays hands on Bryce Evans to ordain him a transitional deacon May 14 at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis. Also ordained transitional deacons were Paul Baker, Nicholas Froehle, Matthew Quail, Timothy Sandquist, Matthew Shireman, Brandon Theisen, Chad VanHoose and Benjamin Wittnebel. Dave Hrbacek/ The Catholic Spirit
May 26, 2016 The Catholic Spirit • 41
Our New Archbishop
The Diocese of Columbus
extends its heartfelt congratulations and prayers to
THE MOST REVEREND BERNARD A. HEBDA on the occasion of his installation as Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. May God’s abundant blessings be with you and your ministry.
The Most Reverend Frederick F. Campbell Bishop of Columbus
Archbishop Emeritus Harry Flynn, right, gives Archbishop Bernard Hebda the sign of peace during the installation Mass May 13 at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit
Archbishop Flynn: Build on the story By Bob Zyskowski The Catholic Spirit
T
he needs of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis may be difficult, Archbishop Emeritus Harry Flynn said, but he thinks Archbishop Bernard Hebda “is the leader we are looking for.” “Archbishop Hebda has the talent, the intellectual acumen and the personality to fill those needs,” the retired archbishop said. “Upon meeting him for the first time I could see he’s a pastoral man. He cares. That’s a beautiful gift.” The archbishop, who led the archdiocese from 1995 to 2008, said if he were to offer any advice to Archbishop Hebda, it would be the same advice he offered to new pastors: Learn the story of the place you are going to. “Every diocese — like every parish — has a story. Learn it, build on it,” Archbishop Flynn said. “It’s extremely important to build on it. “Every leader brings his or her own gifts and makes changes that we need, changes that are waiting for that new administrator.” The 83-year-old archbishop, who
has begun to lighten his schedule of giving retreats to priests and religious around the country, recalled definitions of leadership taught by the late Sigmund Dragastin, a former priest and longtime administrator at the National Institutes of Health. “Dragastin said that in every church leader there should be incorporated an ‘instrumental leader,’ someone who gets something done,” Archbishop Flynn said, “and there should also be an ‘expressive leader,’ someone who raises the morale, points to a higher level and leads the way to that higher level.” While some leaders have characteristics of either the instrumental leader or the expressive leader, it is possible that they could be incorporated into one person, he added. “What we have in our new leader,” Archbishop Flynn said, “is a person who has the instrumental gift and will get things done, and the expressive gift, who will be able to touch everything in a pastoral manner, respecting everyone.”
heartfelt congr atulations and
pr ayerful best wishes to
Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda Pax et bonum!
42 • The Catholic Spirit
Our New Archbishop
May 26, 2016
With new leader, Bishop Cozzens looks at role with fresh perspective Interview by Jessica Trygstad The Catholic Spirit
N
ot even three years into his episcopacy, Auxiliary Bishop Andrew Cozzens has experienced significant changes — most notably, the archdiocese entering Chapter 11 Reorganization and the June 2015 resignations of two of its top leaders that left him the sole bishop for 11 months. But now that Pope Francis has named Archbishop Bernard Hebda to lead the archdiocese, The Catholic Spirit asked Bishop Cozzens what this welcomed change means for him and what Catholics might expect going forward. The interview was edited for length.
Q What’s been your impression of working with Archbishop Hebda?
A It’s been a great gift to work with Archbishop Hebda. Archbishop
Hebda is a truly humble man, he’s a great listener, he has a very generous heart — and so he’s extremely generous with his time — and he’s always focused on persons and wants to be with people and also legitimately help people. I’ve also found him to be a very wise decision-maker. And so having worked with him in the past months in some very important decisions we’ve had to make — for example, in Ramsey County, the civil agreement — I’ve seen that he has a really great grasp of many facts because he’s such a good listener, and he makes very wise and measured decisions. So, I look forward to working with him, especially now that he has a new perspective in the archdiocese because he now is looking at serving us long term.
Q You’ve been the only bishop since the resignations of
Archbishop John Nienstedt and Bishop Lee Piché. How does this appointment change your role and priorities?
A I look forward, if it’s possible, to one day returning to normal life.
[Laughs.] I don’t know if that’s possible. I don’t know what normal life looks like as a bishop. The large change will be that now we’re going from a period of transition and interim leadership to having a stable leader. And so, that also changes my job. My job has been to help Archbishop Hebda keep things running and to make things happen as necessary in order to keep them running. Now, we’re both looking at things with a new perspective, so my job will change in the
Archbishop Bernard Hebda and Bishop Andrew Cozzens visit with Dorwatha Woods, principal of Ascension Catholic School in Minneapolis, during a tour April 22. Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit sense of I’m going to be trying to help him learn what he needs to learn about the archdiocese so that we can plot a path going forward.
Q Where will your focus be now? A My main focus is going to be helping Archbishop Hebda learn all that he needs to
learn in order to set a course for the future. I still oversee several divisions, and I anticipate that will continue, so I’ll continue to focus on evangelization and education, Latino ministries and family ministry. But we have a new opportunity with a new leader to evaluate all those things, so I want to help him in that evaluation and serve what will be his vision going forward.
Q What should Catholics expect during this transition? A They should expect that it will take time. [Laughs.] So, it’s both a time of new
enthusiasm for us as Catholics in the local Church because we’re more ourselves when we have a chief shepherd, and it’s also a time for patience because it takes time to evaluate and set a direction and move forward. So, Catholics should expect that it’s going to take time for Archbishop Hebda to get a sense of all the needs and the best way to move forward.
Q You were named auxiliary bishop in December 2013 and have taken on
responsibilities beyond what is typically expected of an auxiliary bishop. How would you describe your time as bishop so far?
A It’s been a bit of a roller coaster. There have been lots of ups and downs, lots of
important moments, some difficult moments, but many blessings overall. One of the largest blessings has just been getting to know the archdiocese in a new way. I was a priest of the archdiocese, so obviously I knew the archdiocese, but now I know it in a new way because I’ve been able to visit so many parishes and so many >>43
The Most Reverend Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R. Archbishop of Indianapolis and
ishop Roger J. Foys, D.D., and the priests, deacons, religious and lay faithful of the Diocese of Covington send congratulations and prayerful best wishes to the Most Reverend Bernard A. Hebda as he is installed Archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
the entire Church in Central and Southern Indiana send greetings of peace and congratulations to The Most Reverend Bernard A. Hebda on the occasion of his installation as Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis ◆
You have our prayers and best wishes!
44 • The Catholic Spirit
Our New Archbishop
May 26, 2016
Family at the forefront Members of Archbishop Bernard Hebda’s family watch him process in at his installation Mass May 13 at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. Family members attending include, from right, his brother, Terrance; father, Bernard; and sister, Yvonne. Dave Hrbacek/ The Catholic Spirit
Bishop David A. Zubik
and all the priests, deacons and faithful of the Diocese of Pittsburgh send their prayers and their love for
Archbishop Bernard Hebda a son of our diocese.
May God bless your ministry.
May 26, 2016 The Catholic Spirit • 45
Our New Archbishop
As part of the May 13 installation ritual, Susan Mulheron, archdiocesan chancellor for canonical affairs, presents Pope Francis’ mandate, the document in which the pope formally appoints Archbishop Bernard Hebda the new ordinary of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit
Monseigneur l’Archevêque Bernard A. Hebda la Petite Église Française vous salue à l’heureuse occasion de votre installation archiépiscopale. Dès maintenant l’Étoile du Nord brillera encore plus fort…!
Mandate makes it official The Catholic Spirit A bishop is formally installed with the reading and approval of the papal mandate appointing him to his see. The following is the English translation of the mandate Pope Francis issued in Latin March 24 appointing Archbishop Bernard Hebda archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, apostolic nuncio emeritus to the U.S., read the translation at the installation Mass May 13, on behalf of Pope Francis.
T
o our venerable brother Bernard Anthony Hebda, until now coadjutor archbishop of Newark and also apostolic administrator of the vacant see of [the] Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, appointed archbishop of the same metropolitan see of St. Paul and Minneapolis, greetings and apostolic blessing. Nothing except the mercy of Jesus, by which “he saved us through the bath of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit” (Ti 3:5), compels us to feed the flock with the same ardor which Christ demanded of Peter (confer Jn 21:15-19). Accordingly, among the responsibilities, which we, who follow in the footsteps of the same apostle, fulfill without delay for the Church universal, and judge to be of no small importance, is that of providing shepherds for each and every local Church, so that men and women “may approach . . . mercy and find grace for timely help” (Heb 4:16). For this reason, it is only with loving care that at this time we
direct our attention to “the Twin Cities,” which are in need of an ordinary, owing to the resignation of John Clayton Nienstedt, its former shepherd. Indeed, venerable brother, holding before our eyes your merits and considering the experience which you have already acquired through your episcopal ministry carried out in Gaylord and Newark, we judge it to be spiritually beneficial if you, who have already begun to preach the Gospel in the state of Minnesota, were to continue doing so as the ordinary of that province. Therefore, upon consultation with the Congregation for Bishops, from the fullness of our apostolic authority, we release you from the bond of the church in Newark, and we name and appoint you Metropolitan Archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis, conferring upon you the rights and imposing the obligations connected with this mandate. In addition, you will take care to inform the clergy and the faithful of your archdiocese about this appointment. Finally, venerable brother, as you devote yourself to the faithful dwelling in the northern part of the United States, we commend you to the intercession of St. Paul the Apostle, that, led by his example, you may put faith in first place and not law (Confer “Misericordiae Vultus,” 20). Given at Rome, at St. Peter’s, on the 24th day of the month of March, Holy Thursday, in the year 2016, the Jubilee of Mercy, the fourth of our pontificate.
The Little French Church of
SAINT LOUIS, KING OF FRANCE In the Capital City of Saint Paul, Minnesota Founded in 1868. Entrusted to the pastoral care of the Society of Mary (Marists) in 1886 by Archbishop John Ireland
ANNO DOMINI MMXVI
Celebrating the Bicentennial of the Marists, currently serving in 27 countries,148th Anniversary of the Foundation of the Parish of Saint Louis, King of France, and the 130th Anniversary of pastoral care of the Marists in Minnesota.
AD MAJOREM DEI GLORIAM ET DEI GENETRICIS HONOREM To the Greater Glory of God and the Honor of the Mother of God
46 • The Catholic Spirit
Our New Archbishop
May 26, 2016
A sign of respect As onlookers take photos of Archbishop Bernard Hebda, a man kisses his ring May 13 as the newly installed archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis makes his way toward the rear of the nave of the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. Kissing the ring of a bishop or the pope is an ancient tradition and a gesture of honor and respect. Dave Hrbacek/ The Catholic Spirit
The Caldwell University community and President Nancy Blattner offers prayers and best wishes for
Most Rev. Bernard A. Hebda as he is installed as Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.
caldwell.edu Caldwell, NJ
May 26, 2016 The Catholic Spirit • 47
‘A theology of encounter’ Pastoral approach praised By Bob Zyskowski The Catholic Spirit
T
hose who direct ministries in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis like what they see as they’ve observed Archbishop Bernard Hebda over the 11 months he has served in Minnesota. Father Donald DeGrood, vicar for clergy, said that, as apostolic administrator, Archbishop Hebda “has demonstrated great humility, pastoral sensitivity, prudence and charity” — qualities that he thinks will serve priests and deacons well. “We are in great need of restoring trust with the faithful and clergy,” Father DeGrood said. “With the many challenges priests and deacons face today, I look forward to ways Archbishop Hebda and archdiocese staff can restore trust and help our clergy to be healthy, happy and holy. If our priests are healthy, happy and holy we can then have great hope that our dear faithful will also continue to grow in holiness and be well served.” Estela Villagrán Manancero’s first-hand experience with Archbishop Hebda began last
Our New Archbishop summer when he let her know that he would like to participate in the Latino Family Day Mass. “I was thrilled that he wanted to be a part of our fiesta,” said Manancero, director of the archdiocesan Office of Latino Ministry. Then just weeks into his role as apostolic administrator, the archbishop presided at the August Mass for 3,500 people, and afterward congratulated Manancero for coordinating the liturgy and the picnic that followed. She remembers thinking after the Mass that he had left. Hours later, he came to thank her and say goodbye. “He spent time with the people, with the children, getting to know them,” she said. “The families were very impressed with him. They took all kinds of pictures.” She added: “I think the great gift he brings is his pastoral side, which shows in his personality. He is a blessing to our archdiocese — and he speaks Spanish!” That interest in families is one thing Jean Stolpestad, director of the archdiocesan Office of Marriage, Family and Life, hopes shines in Archbishop Hebda’s leadership. “The family is the foundation of our society, and it is here that we learn to receive and give love,” she said. “I look forward to working with Archbishop Hebda to find ways in which we can support our parishes as they strive to strengthen the family and accompany them in the many complex realities they face.” Jason Adkins, executive director of the
We look forward to continuing to work with you for justice in the community, providing hope for all.
Welcome Archbishop Hebda!
CCTWINCITIES.ORG
Higher Ground Saint Paul
Dignified shelter, permanent housing and pathways out of poverty.
CS-NewArchbishop-Ad.indd 1
5/6/16 8:45 AM
“He is a blessing to our archdiocese — and he speaks Spanish!” Estela Villagrán Manancero
Minnesota Catholic Conference, the public policy voice of the Church in the state, said the MCC staff “is very excited about serving in the vineyard” with Archbishop Hebda, who will assume the role of its board president. “Already, Archbishop Hebda has shown us both a spirit of constructive engagement and what Pope Francis calls a ‘theology of encounter,’” Adkins said. “These qualities are essential for modeling faithful citizenship, as well as seizing the evangelical opportunities present within the public arena. “Even more importantly, we hope Archbishop Hebda will continue to radiate joy in proposing the truths of the Gospel, even when they are unpopular. The proclamation of the joy of the Gospel will magnify the deeper reality that God has created us out of love,” he said. “The Catholic Church holds and reveals that love, offering through her doctrine a message of true happiness.” He added: “Such witness will undoubtedly inspire missionary disciples who help renew political life, and who understand, as Pope Francis reminds us, that ‘a good Catholic meddles in politics’ because it is ‘one of the highest forms of charity.’”
48 • The Catholic Spirit
Our New Archbishop
May 26, 2016
‘A true shepherd’
Archbishop Hebda impresses local pastors and parish leaders with personality, knowledge By Bob Zyskowski The Catholic Spirit
T
hose who have had some close-up contact with Archbishop Bernard Hebda during his brief time in Minnesota say they like what they’ve seen in the new ordinary of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Father Rick Banker, the pastor of St. Rita in Cottage Grove, appreciated the effort Archbishop Hebda put into celebrating the 50th anniversary Mass at the parish on Good Shepherd Sunday in April. “He did a wonderful job,” Father Banker said, noting that the archbishop was familiar with phrases the parish has been using to celebrate its
Archbishop Bernard Hebda and Father Rick Banker, pastor of St. Rita in Cottage Grove, share a laugh following an April 17 Mass celebrating the parish’s 50th anniversary. Dianne Towalski/For The Catholic Spirit
>>49
The Catholic Churches of Chisago County would like to
Welcome Archbishop Bernard Hebda to the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis
Rush City
Sacred Heart
Harris
Sunrise St. Gregory the Great
North Branch
St. Bridget of Sweden
Lindstrom
Stacy Chisago City Wyoming
St. Joseph
Taylors Falls
Franconia St. Francis Xavier
God’s blessing as you serve our faith communities.
May 26, 2016 The Catholic Spirit • 49
Our New Archbishop
<<48
added. “After seeing him close up in the parish setting, I’m even more excited.”
history. “His homily was great, tying in listening to the ‘voice of the shepherd’ with our 50 years of ‘connecting faith and life’ and the dedication of our new faith formation wing.” The archbishop’s personal anecdote of being a “city boy” and not knowing much about rural life and sheep herding was a great segue that helped parishioners appreciate what the people of Jesus’ time would have understood in the passage about the Good Shepherd, Father Banker added. In meeting and visiting with folks at the reception after Mass, Archbishop Hebda was at ease and exhibited a wonderful sense of humor, Father Banker added. “[While] experiencing him firsthand in the parish setting, the thought that came to my mind was, ‘He demonstrates the leadership and care of a true shepherd, with the warmth and humility of a fellow traveler,’” he said. He heard from many parishioners, “Oh, the new archbishop is so down to earth and approachable.” Father Banker was impressed, too. “As a priest of the archdiocese for 28 years, I think Archbishop Hebda is just the man to lead us at this time,” Father Banker said. “I believe he has all the qualities we need right now to continue the healing process and move us forward as a local Church. “I was excited when he was appointed,” he
Formation talk Franciscan Sister Katarina Schuth, who holds the Endowed Professorship for the Social Scientific Study of Religion at the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity in St. Paul, said she is impressed by the many spiritual and personal gifts that Archbishop Hebda brings to the archdiocese. She recalled speaking with him during a visit to Seton Hall University near Newark, New Jersey, last year. “What I remember especially about our conversation is both the archbishop’s expansive knowledge and understanding of the role and purpose of seminaries, and his lively interest in the characteristics of programs and the ambiance of seminaries in general,” she said. Sister Katarina, who is noted for her research on seminaries and Church life and teaches in the areas of pastoral ministry, sociology of religion, and world religions, said, “We are blessed to have someone who has already shown so much care about all aspects of our local Church, including the education and formation of future priests and lay ministers.”
Connecting with kids Michelle Davis, youth minister at St. Maximilian Kolbe in Delano, said she is excited for the future of the archdiocese after seeing Archbishop Hebda
relate well with young people during a confirmation rite at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul this spring. “One of our confirmation students caught Archbishop Hebda on his way out,” Davis said, “and [the archbishop] came back and took a picture with our student and his family and other confirmation students that were still there. “He didn’t appear to be in a hurry and took the time to relate with those around him,” Davis said. “He’s easy to talk to and will make a great shepherd.” Father Cletus Basekela and Hanna Younce, pastor and youth minister, respectively, of St. Jerome in Maplewood, noted in an email that the archbishop impressed at confirmation liturgies for their young people, too. “Archbishop Hebda pulled the confirmation candidates into the Mass from the moment he stepped out of the sanctuary into the nave,” they wrote. “He engaged the confirmands into the sacrament and connected with them by his easygoing nature. “While questioning them as he explained his role and their role, he soon had made what could often be a sacrament that is less personal (due to the amount of participants) into a very real individual experience,” they noted. “We look forward to his upcoming and continued leadership, guidance and personal touch as he joins the St. Paul-Minneapolis archdiocese as our shepherd.”
50 • The Catholic Spirit
Our New Archbishop
May 26, 2016
Honoring Our Lady After processing into the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul for his installation Mass, Archbishop Bernard Hebda and other ministers of the liturgy pause to pray before a statue of Our Lady of Fatima temporarily enshrined in the Cathedral sanctuary for the May 13 feast of Our Lady of Fatima. Kneeling, from left, are Father John Paul Erickson, who served as master of ceremonies for the Mass; Deacon Adam Tokashiki, a member of the Pro Ecclesia Sancta community that serves at St. Mark, St. Paul; Archbishop Hebda; and Deacon Phillip Stewart of the Cathedral. Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit
Our prayers and congratulations to
The Most Reverend Bernard A. Hebda
on the occasion of your installation as the Archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis
WELCOME MOST REVEREND HEBDA! May your shepherd’s heart be strengthened and blessed as you serve the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis.
Bishop John T. Folda, and the clergy, religious and the Catholic faithful of the Diocese of Fargo
Ad multos annos!
TheGlennMinnetonka.com | 952-352-1000 TheGlennHopkins.com | 952-933-3333
May 26, 2016 The Catholic Spirit • 51
Our New Archbishop
With feast-day Mass, seeking Mary’s aid By Maria Wiering The Catholic Spirit
O
n May 13, 1917, three children of Fatima, Portugal, were tending sheep when Mary appeared to them. She would appear to them five more times before Oct. 13 of that year, sharing with them messages on the need for conversion; visions of heaven, hell and a “dancing sun” reportedly viewed by thousands; and a threepart “secret” that has been the source of much intrigue in the century since. Devotion to Our Lady of Fatima spread. It was her intercessory protection credited for saving the life of St. John Paul II in 1981 after he was shot during an assassination attempt in St. Peter’s Square, and the pope was known to have an interest in the messages she shared with the children. In his 2002 apostolic letter “Rosarium Virginis Mariae” (“On the Most Holy Rosary”), St. John Paul II wrote, “Well-known are the occasions in the 19th and the 20th centuries on which the Mother of Christ made her presence felt and her voice heard, in order to exhort the people of God to this form of contemplative prayer.” Pointing to the Marian apparitions at Fatima and to St. Bernadette Soubirous at Lourdes, France, in 1858, the pope commended “their great influence
on the lives of Christians and the authoritative recognition they have received from the Church,” adding, “these shrines continue to be visited by great numbers of pilgrims seeking comfort and hope.” Our Lady of Fatima’s feast day, May 13, coincided with Archbishop Bernard Hebda’s Mass of Installation. He visited Fatima last year and “found it to be a place of great peace and great encouragement,” he said. Father John Ubel, pastor of the Cathedral of St. Paul, commissioned the restoration of a statue of Our Lady of Fatima for the installation Mass. Archbishop Hebda prayed before it briefly after processing into the Mass. “Certainly knowing that Our Lady is so involved and so interested with a mother’s love in everything that goes on in our lives is comforting for me,” he told The Catholic Spirit in March. “Not that being a shepherd here in the archdiocese is exactly like being a shepherd in Fatima, but it’s certainly significant to me that they were shepherd children, and that Our Lady was so tender with them.” He added: “I’m hoping that she’s going to guide me, as well, as I’m striving to really embrace the responsibilities that come with being the archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis.”
Welcome Welcome
Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda
Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda to the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
to the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis as our shepherd.
The statue of Our Lady of Fatima that Archbishop Hebda prayed before on the day of his installation was restored at the request of Cathedral rector Father John Ubel by Sharon King, a parishioner of St. Agnes in St. Paul. Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit
52 • The Catholic Spirit
Sacred
symbols
The Catholic Spirit
A bishop and archbishop wear special symbols and vestments particular to their office. Drawing from information in “The Church Visible” (1996) by James-Charles Noonan Jr., the following is a short primer on their meaning, history and use.
Miter The miter’s use in the Church dates to the tenth century, but it likely has roots in headgear worn by Greek athletes. It is most commonly seen in the Gothic style, with pointed peaks and two long fabric strips attached to its back. It is worn by bishops and abbots to symbolize the offices’ dignity and jurisdiction.
Crosier Officially known as the pastoral staff, the crosier symbolizes a bishop’s pastoral authority and “Christ’s love and protection for his people as a shepherd would watch over his sheep,” Noonan wrote. It can be traced to the walking sticks of the Twelve Apostles and, in the early Church, was made of wood.
Our New Archbishop
May 26, 2016
Episcopal ring
Pallium
The episcopal ring signifies the bishop’s authority and dates to the third century. Symbolic of the bishop’s marriage to the Church and “spiritual parentage” of the diocese’s faithful, the ring “binds the priests and the faithful to the bishop and his teaching on all spiritual matters,” Noonan wrote. It is worn on the right hand’s ring finger.
The woolen pallium — a white band worn across the shoulders embroidered with crosses and traditionally beset with three gemmed pins — is a liturgical vestment that represents jurisdictional authority and is worn only by archbishops. Before it was adopted by the Church, the pallium was a simple — and larger — garment worn by the Greeks for warmth. In the early Church, both clergy and lay people wore it as a sign of their fidelity to Christ. It wasn’t until the ninth century that it became a vestment given by the pope to archbishops, as it is today. Its wool comes from lambs blessed annually on the feast of St. Agnes, Jan. 21. In recent decades, new archbishops traveled to Rome to receive pallia from the pope on the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, June 29, but last year Pope Francis announced that the trip to Rome is no longer necessary, and archbishops will be vested during a Mass in their own dioceses by an apostolic nuncio. Archbishop Hebda is expected to receive a pallium representing his role as the metropolitan of the archdiocese and its “suffragan sees” — the dioceses of Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota — at a later date.
Metropolitan cross Also known as an “archiepiscopal cross,” the metropolitan cross is carried in procession before an archbishop. It is distinguishable from a typical processional cross by a second cross bar above the arms of the crucifix. Its first recorded use was in 1232.
Pectoral cross Made of precious metal and worn on a chain around the neck, the pectoral cross is designed to sit near the wearer’s heart (“pectus” is Latin for breast). A pectoral cross is worn at all times by the pope, cardinals, bishops and abbots, and it reflects the dignity of their office. Some pectoral crosses contain a relic of what is believed to be the true cross.
Zucchetto
Illustrations by Maria Wiering
Also known as a “skullcap,” the zucchetto is worn typically by bishops, but could be worn by priests or deacons. It was created to protect the part of the wearer’s head bared by the tonsure, a hairstyle in which at least the center of the scalp is shaved as a sign of humility and piety. Archbishops and bishops wear an amaranth red zucchetto; the pope wears white. It is worn under the miter.
Congratulations and Best Wishes to our new local shepherd
Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda Our prayers are with you as you serve and lead the faithful of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis Liturgy Schedule Monday 8:00 AM Mass Tuesday 2:00 PM School Mass Tuesday 5:30 PM Mass Wednesday 8:00 AM Mass Thursday 5:30 PM Mass Friday 8:00 AM Mass Sunday Vigil Mass/Saturday 4:00 PM Sunday 8:30 AM, 11:00 AM, 5:00 PM
Mass Intentions
Many of you may remember the GROW Survey and process the parish underwent late in 2014 and into the first half of 2015. Many parishes have gone through the same process, including the three I was pastor of before coming here. What most people saw was a survey that was usually taken online which asked questions about our facilities, school, faith formation program, liturgies and sacramental preparation, leadership, administration and so forth. It also asked questions of our parishioners regarding their comfort level in sharing their faith, wants as far as adult education and many other questions. There were some questions specific to Saint Ambrose of Woodbury as well – regarding our debt, parish outreach, etc. A committee was formed which, with the help of facilitators through the Archdiocese, looked at the survey data as well as financial and demographic data to prepare a pastoral plan from it. The overall goal is to identify and address problems we face, but more so “to support and develop a community of believers that are mission-centered, proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ to all people.” The GROW pastoral planning process provided some frames of reference for pastoral planning. One of these was called “Seeds for Growth.” These are traits that have been proven to be part of committed Catholics and parishes which spread the faith. They are Hospitality, Prayer, Study, Generosity, and Evangelization so the overall goal involves making sure these elements are part of our parish life.
Sunday May 1, 2016 8:30 AM: Alex Borkowski ╬ Bozena Borkowski ╬ 11:00 AM: Mass for the Parish 5:00 PM: Rita Pederson ╬ Monday May 2, 2016 8:00 AM: Donald Betz ╬ Tuesday May 3, 2016 2:00 PM: Lew Ohmann ╬ 5:30 PM: Michael Hilsgen ╬ Wednesday May 4, 2016 8:00 AM: Patricia Pillow ╬ 9:15 AM: Leona Wilkie ╬ Thursday May 5, 2016 5:30 PM: Thomas Walsh ╬ Friday May 6, 2016 8:00 AM: Virginia Hangge ╬ Saturday May 7, 2016 4:00 PM: Evelyn Coleman ╬ Sunday May 8, 2016 8:30 AM: Elizabeth Theberge ╬ 11:00 AM: Viviana Puccinelli ╬ Susanna Puccinelli ╬ 5:00 PM: Mass for the Parish
Last May the GROW committee identified key initiatives for the improvement in various areas of parish ministry. They include Sacraments and Worship, Faith
Reconciliation
From our Pastor
May 26, 2016 The Catholic Spirit • 53
Our New Archbishop
Warm welcome As priests and bishops gather before the entrance procession for the May 13 installation Mass for Archbishop Bernard Hebda, Father Bryan Pedersen, pastor of Sacred Heart in Robbinsdale, offers congratulations to the archbishop. Looking on at left is Father John Gallas, pastor of Sts. Peter and Paul in Loretto and St. Thomas the Apostle in Corcoran. Dave Hrbacek/ The Catholic Spirit
On behalf of the clergy, religious, and lay faithful of the Archdiocese of Baltimore,
Archbishop William E. Lori offers prayers & congratulations to
Most Rev. Bernard A. Hebda on the occasion of his appointment as
Visit us online: www.TheCatholicSpirit.com
Archbishop of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis ARCHDIOCESE OF BALTIMORE
54 • The Catholic Spirit
Our New Archbishop
May 26, 2016
Archbishop Hebda’s
Coat of Arms
the shield signifies Mary and Archbishop Hebda’s placement of his pastoral ministry under her protection.
Elderberry tree
The Catholic Spirit
A
bishop’s coat of arms traditionally has four parts: a shield with “charges,” or symbols, signifying his family, home or religious devotions; a processional cross representing his rank as bishop; a green pilgrim’s hat; and a scroll with his motto. The following is a basic explanation of Archbishop Bernard Hebda’s coat of arms, which, upon his installation as archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis, is merged with the archdiocesan crest, which was established in 1920 under Archbishop Austin Dowling. The archdiocesan crest is represented on the shield to the viewer’s left, and Archbishop Hebda’s personal crest is represented on the right.
Wide-brimmed hat The green, wide-brimmed pilgrim’s hat is part of traditional heraldry, or the design of a coat of arms. Also known as a “galero,” the hat was once commonly worn by Church prelates. The symbol includes chords and “fiocchi,” or tassels. An archbishop’s coat of arms includes 10 tassels on each side of the shield.
Processional cross Like the hat, the processional cross is also a traditional heraldic symbol. The double-armed processional cross, or metropolitan cross, signifies an archbishop. The cross in Archbishop Hebda’s coat of arms has five red stones to represent the five wounds of Christ.
Azure star The blue, seven-pointed star at the top right of
The elderberry tree symbolizes Archbishop Hebda’s Polish ancestry. The tree is widely found in southeastern Poland, from where Archbishop Hebda’s paternal grandparents emigrated. The tree’s Polish name, “bez heb,” also serves as a visual pun of “Hebda.” The tree also has a theological meaning; as one of the first plants to show signs of life after winter, it is also used to symbolize hope for a season of fertility and graces. According to an official document explaining the blazonry of Archbishop Hebda’s coat of arms, “Being strong and fruitful, the elderberry has also been identified with constancy and pastoral zeal, fundamental traits expected of any bishop.”
Berries The seven green berries — reminiscent of rosary beads — at the top of the tree signify that he was named a bishop on Oct. 7, the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. With the additional eight berries at the bottom of the tree, the total 15 berries symbolize Mary’s assumption, celebrated Aug. 15. The Norbertine monastery in Hebdów, Poland, was dedicated to the Assumption in the 12th century, and “Hebda” was a common name among those who lived and worked on the monastery’s lands.
Gold background As the noblest of metals, gold symbolizes faith, which provides the strength to support Archbishop Hebda’s pastoral ministry.
Waves The white and blue waves represent the waters of the Mississippi River.
Sword The red sword represents the archdiocese’s namesake, the apostle St. Paul.
Crosses The two red crosses represent the Twin Cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
Motto Archbishop Hebda’s motto is “Only Jesus.” It’s taken from Mark 9:8, which is part of an account of the Transfiguration: “Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone but Jesus alone with them.” The words are also the ending of a prayer written by Blessed John Henry Newman, whom Archbishop Hebda admires. Part of the prayer is printed on cards the archbishop had designed for his installation as archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis:
Chequy fess
“Dear Jesus, help me to spread thy fragrance everywhere I go. Flood my soul with thy spirit and love. Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly that all my life may only be a radiance of thine. Shine through me and be so in me that every soul I come in contact with may feel thy presence in my soul. Let them look up and see no longer me but only Jesus.”
The checked pattern is adopted from the coat of arms of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, where Archbishop Hebda grew up and was ordained a priest July 1, 1989. According to the blazonry explanation, the placement of the tree on the chequy fess “recalls that Bishop Hebda has roots in the Diocese of Pittsburgh and has drawn his strength from that local Church.”
The Missionaries of Charity, for whom Archbishop Hebda served as a confessor while living in Rome, pray the prayer each morning, according to the practice of the order’s founder, Blessed Teresa of Kolkata. The motto reminds the archbishop of the sisters’ exemplary humility, obedience and fidelity, and that his ministry is to lead the faithful to Christ.
Fruit The four clusters of fruit on the elderberry tree are a sign of the cardinal virtues — prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance — which “sustain the pastoral activity of the bishop.”
May 26, 2016 The Catholic Spirit • 55
Our New Archbishop
Time to celebrate Archbishop Bernard Hebda walks with CretinDerham Hall President Frank Miley at the reception hosted by the St. Paul school May 13 following the installation Mass. Dave Hrbacek/ The Catholic Spirit
congratulations
Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda
Bishop Edward C. Malesic
and the faithful of the Diocese of Greensburg
May 26, 2016 The Catholic Spirit • 57
Our New Archbishop
Archbishop Bernard Hebda greets a young boy as he walks down the aisle at the end of the installation Mass May 13 at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit
Congratulations Archbishop Hebda
May God send his grace upon you and the good people of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis!
Most Reverend
R. Walker Nickless
Bishop of the Diocese of Sioux City
58 • The Catholic Spirit
Our New Archbishop
May 26, 2016
Archdiocese’s history brims with pioneers and visionaries By Bob Zyskowski The Catholic Spirit
M
ore than 150 years after Father Louis Hennepin traveled down the Mississippi River and first saw what in 1680 he named St. Anthony Falls — the site of present-day Minneapolis — French missionaries came to Minnesota filled with zeal to bring the faith to native tribes. When Fathers Lucien Galtier and Augustin Ravoux arrived in the middle of the 19th century, they did evangelize among the local native people. Father Ravoux even printed a catechism in a Sioux dialect that included prayers and songs. But the priests found other duties on the shores of the upper Mississippi, including ministering to soldiers and their families at Fort Snelling, as well as to settlers near a tavern owned by one Pierre Parrant, better known by the nickname “Pig’s Eye.” They also said Mass for fur traders across the river from the fort in Mendota, the first permanent Catholic presence in the area, beginning in 1840, and still the site of St. Peter Church, the oldest parish in continual existence in the archdiocese.
Log cathedral It was at Pig’s Eye Landing on the Mississippi that French Catholic farmers donated land and built a rough log chapel where on Nov. 1, 1841, Father Galtier celebrated Mass and dedicated the chapel to St. Paul. The frontier village came to be known by that apostle’s name. Nine years later, in 1850, a bishop was assigned and the Diocese of St. Paul was established. When Bishop Joseph Cretin came up the Mississippi by steamer in 1851, the log chapel became the diocese’s first cathedral. At the time, there were some 3,000 Catholics in the diocese, which encompassed what was then the Minnesota Territory, including all of the present states of Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota.
Immigrants find a home The population expanded quickly. Farmers and lumbermen, migrants from eastern states and Catholic immigrants — especially from Germany and Ireland — came to carve new lives out of the prairie and wilderness. Father Francis Xavier Pierz wrote in German to invite his former countrymen to bring their families to settle the new land. Later, to ensure that widows and orphans were taken care of in their adopted country, German Catholics founded the Catholic Aid Association, a fraternal organization today known by the name Catholic United Financial. Among the Irish families who arrived in 1852 was 13-year-old John Ireland, who became the visionary archbishop of St. Paul, a dominant figure in the American Church. Archbishop Ireland promoted the idea that Catholics should take an
A fresco by local artist Mark Balma in a transcept of the Cathedral of St. Paul depicts Bishop Joseph Cretin arriving by boat in 1851 to take possession of the new Diocese of St. Paul. He is greeted at Pig’s Eye Landing on the Mississippi River by Father Augustin Ravoux, a Native American family and early settlers. The log St. Paul Chapel that would become the diocese’s first cathedral is in the background on the then sparsely populated bluff. Courtesy the Cathedral of St. Paul active participation in civic life. At a time of prejudice against Catholics, he preached that Catholics were good Americans and that the freedom and democracy of the United States offered fertile ground for the practice of the faith. Early on, priests and women religious were recruited from Europe to serve the needs of Catholics in the region; Archbishop Ireland wanted home-grown, American priests, and founded the St. Paul Seminary in 1894 to train them, thanks in large part to funding by Great Northern Railway magnate James J. Hill, whose wife, Mary (nee Mehegan), was an Irish Catholic. In 1905, Archbishop Ireland went against the social taboos of his day to admit a black man to the seminary, and five years later ordained Father Stephen Louis Theobald a priest of the diocese.
Early education Four Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet opened a school just days after they arrived in 1851, then expanded their ministry to health care, serving heroically when a cholera epidemic struck in 1854. The St. Joseph Sisters’ legacy of that early St. Joseph Academy lives today through St. Catherine University, founded by Archbishop Ireland’s sister, Mother Seraphine Ireland. The sisters founded hospitals in both Minneapolis (St. Mary’s) and St. Paul (St. Joseph’s), and, as the health care needs of the population changed, in the 1990s they developed St. Mary’s Health Clinics, which bring medical services to the poor. Due to the efforts of religious orders and dedicated lay men and women, Catholic education and formation has been a high priority for the Catholic community in the archdiocese. Archbishop Ireland founded the College (now university) of St. Thomas in St. Paul, an archdiocesan owned institution of higher education. It has campuses in both the Twin Cities and a law school.
Through the sacrifices and dedication of a variety of communities of women and men religious and laity, Catholic elementary and high schools were staffed across the archdiocese. In turn, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has shared the expertise of its leaders in the education field with Catholics around the country. St. Joseph of Carondelet Sister Catherine McNamee served as president of the National Catholic Education Association, and Father Raymond Lucker — later Bishop Lucker of New Ulm — was the first director of the Department of Education of the U.S. Catholic Conference (forerunner of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.) In 1984, Winona-based St. Mary’s University of Minnesota began offering graduate-level programs at a satellite campus just south of downtown Minneapolis. The Christian Brothers school continues to develop its programs in the Twin Cities and also offers online educational opportunities.
Co-cathedrals Archbishop Ireland conceived the idea of building great cathedrals in both Minneapolis and St. Paul, and had them under construction at the same time early in the 20th century. Both were designed by architect Emmanuel L. Masqueray. The Basilica of St. Mary, the white, wedding cake-like church that graces the intersection of 17th Street and Hennepin Avenue in Minneapolis, was the first church in the United States to be titled a basilica and continues to serve as a landmark on the edge of downtown west of the Mississippi River. East of the Mississippi, the Cathedral of St. Paul stands atop what is now called Cathedral Hill, overlooking both the “money-changers,” >>59
May 26, 2016 The Catholic Spirit • 59
Our New Archbishop
<<58 represented by downtown St. Paul, and “Caesar,” as represented in the Minnesota State Capitol just blocks away. In 2009, it was designated the National Shrine of the Apostle Paul. In a 1988 biography of Archbishop Ireland, historian and archdiocesan priest Father Marvin O’Connell wrote that the cathedral and the cocathedral, the Basilica of St. Mary, were “permanent statements in stone, more eloquent than all his [Archbishop Ireland’s] innumerable speeches combined, which proclaimed that the Catholics had indeed arrived, had put down their roots, and had assumed their rightful place in the American secular city.” Social justice action has long been a hallmark of the archdiocese. A line of priests and laity have followed the lead of Msgr. John A. Ryan, best known for advocating in the 1930s for the rights of workers that today are taken for granted, such as the right to organize, the eight-hour workday and the minimum wage. Msgr. Francis Gilligan is among the most notable and memorable for leading labor schools and combating racially motivated segregation policies in the Twin Cities. A Minnesota laymen, Ronald Krietemeyer, was the principal author of the U.S. Bishops’ 1986 pastoral letter on the Church’s social teaching, “Economic Justice for All.” Following in his footsteps, St. Paul-raised John Carr was, for a quarter century, the lead agent and spokesman for international and domestic social justice at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Out of the fertile soil of the archdiocesan Urban Affairs committee in the last century came an organization named Westminster Corporation bent on improving affordable housing in the area. Now known as CommonBond Communities, the Church-established spin-off over the past 40 years has become the Midwest’s largest nonprofit provider of affordable housing. CommonBond develops housing, manages property and offers support services to families, seniors and people with disabilities across the three-state region. A native son who was ordained a priest of the archdiocese and went on to become its archbishop and a leader on the national scene was John Roach, the son of a Prior Lake banker.
Elected president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops in 1980, Archbishop Roach led his fellow bishops during a time when they discussed, developed and spoke out on two major issues of the day, decrying nuclear arms and calling for economic justice. Asked by a reporter how he would describe the ideological approach prevalent in the archdiocese under his leadership, the archbishop responded, “I don’t know if we’re liberal or conservative, but we move.” Evidence is everywhere in the archdiocese: • In response to the women’s movement of the last century, the Commission on Women was created. • Teresa Mardenborough and Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet Sharon Howell led the Commission for Black Catholics. • Permanent deacons were trained and ordained as early as 1976, following the Second Vatican Council’s restoration of the permanent diaconate. • A covenant between Catholics and Lutherans guides collaboration between the area’s two largest faith traditions. • Catholic lay people in the archdiocese have been on the forefront of the pro-life movement, both in the state through Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life and across the nation. Minneapolis’ Mary Ann Kuharski is the leader of “Prolife Across America,” also known as “the billboard people” for its positive messages on outdoor advertising about babies in the womb. • And Catholic Charities in the archdiocese continues to offer assistance to the most needy in the community, sheltering the homeless and offering services to help people have another chance to succeed in life, among a variety of other programs for pregnant women, children and families. In 2016, the archdiocese comprises 12 counties surrounding the Twin Cities and is the 22nd largest Catholic diocese in the country with an estimated 850,000 Catholics. Once a frontier diocese, it is noted for being on the frontier of lay ministry and as a hub of post-Vatican II liturgical music. St. Paul’s Outreach began in the archdiocese to take on the challenge of evangelizing college students, and has now spread to Arizona, Florida, Kansas, New Jersey, Ohio and Texas. Meanwhile,
West St. Paul-based NET Ministries sends evangelization teams across the country to hold retreats for more than 80,000 young people each year. In 1993, the University of St. Thomas launched the world’s first Catholic Studies program, which became a model for similar interdisciplinary programs across the country. Continuing education and faith formation is available for adults through the Archbishop Harry J. Flynn Catechetical Institute at the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity in St. Paul. The Catholic population in the region has been bolstered of late by the arrival — in great numbers — of Latino, Asian and African immigrants, enriching local parishes through their cultural traditions. During the last years of the 20th century and the early years of the 21st, local cases of sexual abuse of minors by clergy came to light. Anticipated remuneration to victims of abuse led the archdiocese to declare bankruptcy in January 2015 so that the assets of the local Church could be shared equitably and fairly. In a move Church experts called unprecedented, Archbishop John Nienstedt and Auxiliary Bishop Lee Piché resigned their positions in the archdiocese on June 15, 2015, citing the need for the archdiocese to move forward under new leadership. Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Bernard Hebda apostolic administrator of the archdiocese. Already coadjutor archbishop of Newark, New Jersey, he was in line to succeed Archbishop John Myers. In his caretaker position for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Archbishop Hebda held 10 listening sessions to be able to offer the Holy See an idea of the attributes the clergy and the faithful hoped the next archbishop would have. According to a representative of the papal nuncio to the United States, who attended some of the sessions, the broad request for the laity’s input on a new archbishop was unprecedented. Whether or not that input was a factor, in a surprising appointment, Pope Francis named Archbishop Hebda to stay on as the permanent archbishop, which led to his installation as the ninth archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis May 13, the feast of Our Lady of Fatima.
Order your 2017
Official Minnesota Catholic Directory
at a discounted price! Regular price is $45, but order the print version before June 6 and SAVE! 1-5 copies $40 each • 6+ copies $35 each ECM is the proud printing partner of The Catholic Spirit.
CALL 651.291.4444 for order card
60 • The Catholic Spirit
Leading
Our New Archbishop
May 26, 2016
legacy
Archbishop Hebda follows in the footsteps of 11 bishops and archbishops The Catholic Spirit
A
rchbishop Bernard Hebda is the 12th bishop or archbishop to lead the 166-year-old Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, with its 825,000 Catholics and 187 parishes. He succeeds a list of bishops and archbishops with varied backgrounds and impressive legacies. Only the very first bishop — Joseph Cretin — and the very first archbishop — John Ireland — were not nativeborn Americans. Bishop Cretin hailed from France, and Archbishop Ireland was from Ireland. Bishop Thomas Grace, who succeeded Bishop Cretin but preceded Archbishop Ireland, was the first South Carolina native to be ordained a priest and, as a Dominican, the only bishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis to belong to a religious order, with the exception of two auxiliary bishops. Archbishop Ireland was ordained bishop of St. Paul in 1884. Four years later, he became an archbishop when the Diocese of St. Paul was elevated to an archdiocese. The three archbishops who followed Archbishop Ireland were originally East Coast priests: Archbishop Austin Dowling from New York City; Archbishop John Gregory Murray from Waterbury, Connecticut; and Archbishop William Brady from Fall River, Massachusetts. Archbishop Leo Byrne served as the archdiocese’s coadjutor archbishop for nine years but died before he was able to succeed Archbishop Leo Binz. It was under Archbishop Binz’s tenure that the Archdiocese of St. Paul became the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis in 1966. Only Archbishop Ireland and Archbishop John Roach grew up in and were ordained priests for the archdiocese. Read more about our past bishops and archbishops at www.archspm.org/past_bishops.
Bishop Joseph Cretin 1851-1857
Bishop Thomas L. Grace, O.P. 1859-1884
Archbishop John Gregory Murray 1931-1956
Archbishop William O. Brady 1956-1961
Archbishop John R. Roach 1975-1995
Archbishop Harry J. Flynn 1995-2008
May 26, 2016 The Catholic Spirit • 61
Our New Archbishop
Auxiliary bishops of the archdiocese The Catholic Spirit
Archbishop John Ireland 1884-1918
Archbishop Austin Dowling 1919-1930
For more than a century, auxiliary bishops have assisted the archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Of the 18 auxiliary bishops who have served here, 11 have been appointed to lead dioceses elsewhere. Only Archbishop John Roach was tapped to continue serving the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis as archbishop. The following lists the bishops’ dates served and notes if they were named to lead a diocese. Bishop John J. Lawler 1910-1916 Appointed bishop of Rapid City, South Dakota Bishop James J. Byrne 1947-1956 Appointed archbishop of Dubuque, Iowa Bishop Leonard P. Cowley 1957-1973
Archbishop Leo Binz 1962-1975
Coadjutor Archbishop Leo C. Byrne 1967-1974
Bishop Gerald F. O’Keefe 1961-1967 Appointed bishop of Davenport, Iowa Bishop James P. Shannon 1965-1969 Bishop Raymond A. Lucker 1971-1976 Appointed bishop of New Ulm Bishop John R. Roach 1971-1975 Appointed archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis Bishop John F. Kinney 1977-1982 Appointed bishop of St. Cloud
Archbishop John C. Nienstedt 2008-2015
Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda 2016-
Bishop Paul V. Dudley 1977-1978 Appointed bishop of Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Bishop J. Richard Ham, MM 1980-1990 Bishop William H. Bullock 1980-1987 Appointed bishop of Madison, Wisconsin Bishop Robert J. Carlson 1984-1994 Appointed archbishop of St. Louis Bishop Joseph E. Charron, C.PP.S. 1990-1993 Appointed bishop of Des Moines, Iowa Bishop Lawrence H. Welsh 1991-1999 Bishop Frederick F. Campbell 1999-2004 Appointed bishop of Columbus, Ohio Bishop Richard E. Pates 2001-2008 Appointed bishop of Des Moines, Iowa Bishop Lee A. Piché 2009-2015 Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens 2013 - present
62 • The Catholic Spirit
Our New Archbishop
Quick takes with Archbishop Hebda
Watch the video at www.facebook.com/thecatholicspirit Other than the Steelers, what sports or teams do you watch? “I’ve
The Catholic Spirit
What languages do you speak and read? “I feel very much at home in
spent more time watching grade school, high school and college sports than professional sports.”
Italian, French is the one that I studied the most, and Spanish is the one that I need the most, so I’m working on that.”
What sports did you play growing up? Baseball and tennis competitively.
What car do you drive? A Ford
Escape. “I’ve had that both when I was in Gaylord and in Newark, and we’ll see what that will be here in the archdiocese.”
Star Wars or Star Trek? “Neither one. Isn’t that terrible? I kind of pride myself [that] I’ve never seen a Star Wars.”
Do you play an instrument? Piano
Mac or PC? PC. “But I use the iPhone and the iPad, so I’m certainly acquainted with that as well.”
On a scale of 1 to 10, how media savvy are you? “About a three.” Hobbies? “I love to read, I like to listen
to music, I love to eat. Maybe that’s the Italian experience. So spending a lot of time at a table. I don’t have a very refined palate, but I love to spend time with people, breaking bread over a bowl of pasta.”
What do you do to relax? Reading,
music, spending time with friends and movies.
May 26, 2016
Sweet or salty? “I love them both, Dianne Towalski/For The Catholic Spirit
Favorite movie? “The Lion in Winter” Who’s your favorite author? John Grisham
Do you have a favorite saint or devotion? “St. Philip Neri is someone
who’s been close to me all the years of my priesthood, so I’m grateful to him. St. Anthony has been really good to me in my life as well. I like St. Francis a lot, too.”
especially when they’re combined. So if you give me an ice cream with sea salt, oh, I love it.”
Favorite music? “I like all kinds of
music, really. It’s changed in different times of my life. I was never huge about going to concerts. . . . I listen to now — I’m a little bit embarrassed — when I’m in the car, I always turn on Top 40. If anybody sees me singing in the car, that’s what it is.”
Favorite Twin Cities spots? “My
favorite spots in the Twin Cities have to
be the Cathedral and the Basilica. How can you beat them? . . . I haven’t really experienced enough of the dining scene here to have great favorites. I’m kind of a pizza-by-the-slice kind of guy, so those are the only places I know pretty well so far. While my experience has been limited to a 3-mile radius around the Cathedral, my pizza experience has been very positive. But I’m anxious to try some of the Asian restaurants that I see all over. I’m told that they’re wonderful. I’m amazed by the fact that anything you want you can find here in the Twin Cities. “I’ve been to one Saints game in St. Paul, and that was great fun. I liked the pig, Pablo Pigasso. I’ve been to one Twins game, and that was great, and I’ve been to one Wild game, and that was great fun as well. . . . When I was in Newark, I went to a few professional hockey games, but it was always hard to be cheering for the Devils. Occasionally they would have a Catholic Charities night with the Devils, so it would be ‘The Devils welcome Archbishop Hebda.’ I guess the Wild’s not much better than that — but it’s a little bit better.”
Welcome ARCHBISHOP BERNARD A. HEBDA from our seminarians, students, priests, faculty and staff
www.saintpaulseminary.org