The Record: a New Archbishop

The Record
September 25, 2013

http://www.northjersey.com/news/opinions/225141432_The_Record__A_new_archbishop.html

IT'S ABOUT tone. And it's about time. Catholics in Newark have a new archbishop, Bernard Hebda.

Pope Francis has named a coadjutor archbishop to work alongside Archbishop John Myers, who, at age 72, is still three years from retirement. Coadjutors are named for several reasons: A bishop may be straying from doctrine, a financial crisis or capital program needs a stronger hand, a bishop's health is failing or the bishop's ability to shepherd his diocese has been severely compromised.

At a press conference Tuesday announcing the arrival of Hebda, Myers made it clear his health is good and that it was he who requested a coadjutor. Myers also said he did not need to explain to the public when he asked the Vatican for assistance.

Perhaps there is something reassuring in that sentiment. Explaining is not what Myers likes to do. In an August letter to priests of the archdiocese, he declared that those critical of his handling of sex abuses cases were "simply evil, wrong, immoral, and seemingly focused on their own self-aggrandizement." Myers intends to cling to his autocratic style to the very end. He is consistent. And as Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines."

Hebda has an impressive academic résumé. Born in Pittsburgh, he studied at Harvard and Columbia, and in Rome. He is both a civil and a canon lawyer. His time spent in the Diocese of Pittsburgh will serve him well in Newark, more than his last assignment as bishop of Gaylord, Mich., a small, rural diocese.

The new archbishop is relatively young at age 54. That may be a plus when it comes to learning a new, vibrant place. What his duties will be are, at least to the public, unclear. Hebda will replace Myers, but not until Myers reaches his mandatory retirement age of 75. During this long transition, Hebda would do well to travel the archdiocese, meet parishioners, non-Catholics, public officials and, yes, even the media.

On Tuesday, Myers sarcastically joked about the media and newspaper editorial boards, but the media is not his enemy. The archbishop has been his own enemy. Both the Catholic Church and the media are charged to deal in truths. Truth has not always been forthcoming from the archdiocese when it has applied to clerics who have been credibly accused of sexually abusing minors.

Pope Francis, in a published interview last week, eloquently and humbly spoke of the need of the Catholic Church to move beyond conversations solely focused on sex and abortion. He did not touch on one subject in that interview that the church needs to speak about more clearly: the past abuse of minors by clerics. A wound cannot heal unless it has been cleaned.

So we say to Archbishop Hebda, be open to what you hear as you learn this exciting new place. The majority of critics against the archdiocese are not hostile to the mission of the church, they are hostile to a church that ignored its mission. Tone is important. Pope Francis is changing the perspective of many jaded American Catholics merely by admitting he is human, fallible and striving to do better.

That is all that the people of the Newark Archdiocese expect from their bishops. Not every wound can be healed, and not every complaint is valid. But the new archbishop can do much these first days and months of his tenure in Newark by seeing those who are angry as people wanting answers and justice, not attention or vengeance.

Effective missionaries learn how to communicate with all the people they encounter, regardless of language, culture or education. Talk to us, Archbishop Hebda. We look forward to the conversation.