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Archbishop Myers Calls New Right-Hand Man a 'Gift,' Rejects Claims He's out of Favor with Pope

By Mark Mueller
The Star-Ledger
September 25, 2013

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/09/archbishop_myers_calls_new_right-hand_man_a_gift_rejects_claims_hes_out_of_favor_with_pope.html

Newark Archbishop John J. Myers and co-Adjutor Bernard Hebda hold a news conference at the Archdiocese of Newark's Archdiocesan Center in Newark

Co-Adjutor Bernard Hebda during a news conference at the Archdiocese of Newark's Archdiocesan Center in Newark . 9/24/13

Newark Archbishop John J. Myers and co-Adjutor Bernard Hebda hold a news conference at the Archdiocese of Newark's Archdiocesan Center in Newark

Newark Archbishop John J. Myers and co-Adjutor Bernard Hebda hold a news conference at the Archdiocese of Newark's Archdiocesan Center in Newark . 9/24/13

[with video]

Newark Archbishop John J. Myers introduced his new co-archbishop and eventual successor to New Jersey Tuesday, calling the appointment a "gift" that will help him carry out important initiatives and ensure a smooth transition after his retirement.

Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda, whom Pope Francis plucked from a small diocese in Michigan to serve at Myers’ side, was greeted with a standing ovation by dozens of priests and nuns during a press conference at the archdiocese’s headquarters in Newark.

Hebda, 54, a canon lawyer with degrees from Harvard and Columbia universities and more than a decade of Vatican experience in Rome, will begin immediately as Myers’ chief adviser and partner in running the state’s largest diocese.

"If you are wondering if I am as surprised as you are by this appointment, the answer is yes, and yet I am truly thrilled to be here to begin my service," said Hebda, the nation’s second-youngest archbishop.

Hebda comes to Newark at a time of upheaval for Myers, the subject of intense criticism in recent months over the way he has handled priests who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse.

Myers, in his prepared remarks and in a sometimes tense question-and-answer session with about two dozen reporters, rejected speculation that he had lost favor with the pope or that Hebda had been appointed as a minder of sorts.

Myers said he asked the Vatican for a coadjutor archbishop "some time ago" given that he is 72 — three years short of mandatory retirement — and that two of his four auxiliary bishops are in their 70s as well.

In addition, he said, the archdiocese is in the midst of a Catholic school reorganization and is working to address sweeping demographic changes in the population he oversees.

Asked if Hebda’s appointment amounted to a rebuke of Myers’ governance, the archbishop responded: "Absolutely not."

"It was at my own request," Myers said. "That was never part of any discussion, and I don’t think that there are substantiated reasons for them doing so. I don’t think that it’s about that."

He declined to say when he issued the request for a coadjutor.

"I don’t think I need to talk about my conversations with Rome," Myers said.

Coadjutors automatically succeed bishops or archbishops when they retire, transfer or die.

Myers said he has no intention of leaving before his 75th birthday and that he remains in "superb" health, partially the result of a seven-day-a-week exercise regimen.

He said he would immediately begin familiarizing Hebda with the parishes, priests and schools of the archdiocese, which serves more than 1.3 million Roman Catholics in Essex, Union, Hudson and Bergen counties.

When the archbishops were asked who would have ultimate authority in the archdiocese, Hebda swiftly pointed to Myers.

"He’s number one," Hebda said, adding he would work to assist Myers any way he can.

Hebda had served as bishop of Gaylord, Mich., since 2009. He joked that the diocese was so small and rural he was "probably the only bishop in America with a deer blind in my back yard."

The diocese also had very few cases of sexual abuse by priests, Hebda said, acknowledging he had little experience with the issue. He said he would address abuse victims in Newark as he would any other parishioner — with a "shepherd’s heart."

Hebda and Myers said they have known each other for years and consider themselves friends.

Before he was named bishop of Gaylord, Hebda served in the Vatican’s Office of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, which interprets canon law. Myers has worked with the office as well. In addition, both men served at the Pontifical North American College in Rome.

Hebda was raised in Pennsylvania and graduated from high school in Pittsburgh. He was ordained a priest in 1989.

In statements, Trenton Bishop David M. O’Connell and Paterson Bishop Arthur Serratelli welcomed him to the state.

"Archbishop Hebda brings with him a wealth of talent and experience, both nationally and internationally, that will be of tremendous support to Archbishop John Myers as he shepherds the Archdiocese of Newark," O’Connell said.

Christopher Bellitto, an associate professor of history at Kean University and an expert on the papacy, said Hebda’s transfer to Newark marks one of Pope Francis’ first big acts to put his stamp on the American church.

Hebda represents the kind of priest and pastoral leader Francis wants in a bishop, Bellitto said. Myers, among the more conservative church leaders in the United States, too often has resorted to criticizing from the "bully pulpit," Bellitto said.

Francis called out that type of behavior in an interview with a Catholic magazine last week, saying church leaders must focus more on compassion and less on condemnation.

"The timing is interesting," Bellitto said. "To me, it’s very hard to get away from a headline that says, ‘Pope fires bishop.’"

Myers’ greatest troubles this year have stemmed from his supervision of troubled priests.

In April, The Star-Ledger disclosed that the Rev. Michael Fugee had attended youth retreats and heard confessions from minors in violation of a lifetime ban on ministry to children. Fugee has since been criminally charged.

The archdiocese later come under fire after the newspaper revealed another credibly accused priest, the Rev. Robert Chabak, was permitted to live in an Oradell parish. Parishioners were never notified of his presence.

The latest scrutiny came last month, when the Diocese of Peoria, Ill., paid $1.35 million to settle a lawsuit brought by a man who said he was sexually abused by a priest there. The man claims Myers, Peoria’s bishop until his move to Newark in 2001, should have removed the priest from ministry earlier. Myers said he was unaware of complaints against him.




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