Former Pittsburgh Priest Named Archbishop-in-waiting in New Jersey

By Bill Zlatos
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
September 24, 2013

http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/4763338-74/archbishop-pittsburgh-hebda#axzz2fq6AxpSC

Archbishop John Myers, right, listens to Bishop Bernard Hebda, currently of Gaylord, Michigan, in Newark, N.J., Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2013, after it was announced that the pope has named Hebda coadjutor bishop to help out and eventually take over for the archbishop of Newark when Myers retires in mid-2016. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

Bernard Hebda's mother wanted him to become an attorney, and he did.

But Hebda, 54, who grew up in Brookline, wanted to be a priest. On Tuesday, the Pittsburgh diocese announced Pope Francis appointed him coadjutor archbishop to assist in running the Archdiocese of Newark, N.J., the largest in that state with almost 1.5 million parishioners. Hebda earned the promotion 24 years since his ordination in St. Paul Cathedral in Oakland.

“He had a higher calling than the law,” said Frank Guadagnino, 56, of Mt. Lebanon, who started with Hebda as a lawyer at Reed Smith on the same day in September 1983.

As coadjutor archbishop, he is the likely successor to Archbishop John J. Myers, who has run the Newark diocese since 2001.

The Star-Ledger of Newark reported that scandals clouded Myers' stewardship of the archdiocese this year. One priest was arrested after violating a ban on ministry to children and another took up residence in a parish despite a credible history of sexual abuse, the newspaper reported.

“I certainly hope I'll be able to reach out to all the faithful here with a shepherd's heart,” Hebda said during a news conference in Newark. The Star-Ledger posted a video of the news conference on its website.

Hebda has served as bishop of Gaylord, Mich., since 2009.

“My understanding is he wanted to be a priest all along. His mother wanted him to be an attorney. I guess he found out that it wasn't for him,” said the Rev. Frank Mitolo, pastor of the Church of the Resurrection in Brookline, Hebda's hometown church.

His parents and siblings reside in Sarasota, Fla.

He attended the Church of the Resurrection's former school and received a bachelor's degree from Harvard University.

When he graduated from Columbia University School of Law in 1983, he landed a position in the high-powered Downtown law firm of Reed Smith.

Guadagnino said Hebda's colleagues were sorry to see him go.

“Whenever he tackles any situation, he does it seriously,” said Bishop David A. Zubik of the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, who has known Hebda since about 1990. “You never get this impression you got this hot-shot lawyer in front of you. When he gives advice, he does it in a way that's respectful of the other person.”

He was ordained in 1989.

Hebda served as master of ceremonies to former Pittsburgh Bishop Donald Wuerl, now a cardinal and archbishop of Washington, and other administrative posts. He served as a priest in Prince of Peace Church on the South Side and chaplain of Slippery Rock University.

The holder of a canon law degree from Rome, he left the area in 1996 when he was assigned to the Vatican.

He was assigned to the Gaylord diocese in 2009.

Mitolo recalled an experience that he said best describes the man.

Mitolo was visiting Rome on vacation and arranged with Hebda to obtain tickets for the pope's general audience in St. Peter's Square. He went to Hebda's office to pick up the tickets. Hebda hugged him and introduced him to his secretary.

“Does he know you're going to be a bishop?” Mitolo recalls the secretary asking Hebda.

“It doesn't matter,” he said Hebda replied. “This is my pastor from Pittsburgh, and he'll always be my pastor from Pittsburgh.”

“That said it all for me,” Mitolo said.

Bill Zlatos is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-320-7828 or bzlatos@tribweb.com.