MINNESOTA
Star Tribune
By Pat Pheifer JULY 12, 2015
There was a slight hum of excitement in the air Sunday morning before mass began at the Cathedral of St. Paul.
It was a full house that had come to hear interim Archbishop Bernard Hebda’s first public mass since being thrust into the leadership of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis following the June 15 resignation of Archbishop John Nienstedt.
Hebda emanated warmth from the start, with a smile that reached his eyes as well as his mouth. In his homily, he referenced Bible readings that reminded those in the pews that “All of us are both summoned and sent,” but only briefly touched on the clergy sex abuse, lawsuits and criminal charges that have swirled around the archdiocese, enveloping Nienstedt and Nienstedt’s predecessor, Harry Flynn.
Hebda told the gathered, “We can never be lone rangers. The work of the church is always communal . . . [and] at times we’ll have to share the blame.
“It’s not how quickly we resolve court cases,” he said. “But how effectively we make the love of Jesus and only Jesus.”
Hebda was sent by Pope Francis to the archdiocese as a healer, and his message resonated with many Sunday.
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