NEW JERSEY
NJ.com
By Mark Mueller | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on June 16, 2015
Two years ago, in what was widely seen as a move to steady the leadership in the controversy-ridden Archdiocese of Newark, Pope Francis tapped a little known but well regarded bishop, Bernard Hebda, to serve as Archbishop John J. Myers’ top assistant and eventual successor.
Now, with Hebda chosen to stabilize a far more troubled diocese in Minnesota, the question is when he will return to Newark full-time, if at all.
The pope on Monday named Hebda, 55, interim leader of the Archdiocese of Minneapolis and St. Paul, which was criminally charged last week for what a prosecutor described as a systemic failure to protect children from a sexually abusive priest.
Hebda replaces Archbishop John Nienstedt, who resigned Monday morning with his top assistant, Auxiliary Bishop Lee Piche.
In a statement, Hebda said he will remain Newark’s co-adjutor archbishop, the official term for a bishop-in-waiting, and he stressed that his role in Minnesota would be temporary. In addition, Jim Goodness, a spokesman for Myers, said he expects no change in Hebda’s future assignment as leader of the Newark Archdiocese.
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