ST. PAUL (MN)
Catholic Spirit – Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis
December 3, 2020
By Archbishop Bernard Hebda
Dec. 1 marked my 11th anniversary as a bishop. There are some days when my first day as the bishop of Gaylord seems like yesterday, and others when it seems like a lifetime ago. Never having been involved in diocesan administration and never having lived in Michigan, I knew I had a great deal to learn. I only said “yes” because of my confidence in Pope Benedict, and my belief that the Holy Spirit could work through him.
While the diocese of Gaylord has been described as a pine-scented Eden, it presented me with a steep learning curve. The Lord manifested his goodness, however, in giving me a very patient flock. I had initially worried about the weighty responsibility of passing on the teaching of the apostles, and leading the Church liturgically, but I soon learned that a bishop in the United States is challenged in multiple areas: leadership, governance and administration.
I had been out of the country and working in Rome when the Church in the United States was rocked by the abuse crisis of 2002, so the Dallas Charter had not really been an everyday, lived reality for me before I came home to serve as the bishop of Gaylord. I knew, however, that the diocesan protocols prompted by the Charter and the related Essential Norms would have to be meticulously followed in any case where the allegation was that a minor had been hurt. As a young, inexperienced bishop, I prayed fervently that I would never be presented with an allegation involving someone under 18. And God was good to me. Yet, I have learned over these last 11 years that the abuse crisis has been, and will continue to be, a lived reality throughout the United States and across the globe.
The recently released McCarrick report reminds us of a reality that has become increasingly apparent to me in the last 11 years: Abuse is insidious regardless of the age of the victim. My heart aches not only for those abused as children, but also for the seminarians and priests, all adults, who felt powerless to come forward to report the abuse they had sustained, or didn’t trust that a bishop or cardinal would be held accountable.
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