Archbishop Bernie Hebda, coadjutor of Newark, was scheduled to give a talk at St. Paul Seminary in Pittsburgh on Monday, June 15, on leadership and evangelization. He came back to Pittsburgh--but with a new added title, apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
Earlier that morning the Vatican announced that Archbishop John Nienstedt and Auxiliary Bishop Lee Piche both resigned their positions in the St. Paul Archdiocese. Both have been implicated in the investigations of the archdiocese by the local district attorney in the failure to enforce policies to protect children. The archdiocese was charged with several misdemeanor counts of failing to protect children. The investigation by Minnesota prosecutors remains ongoing. More dirty laundry and poor oversight by church leaders is sure to come out.
Archbishop Hebda is an excellent choice to smooth feathers. His personality is open and friendly and kind. He is a civil and canon lawyer. He is well respected in Rome, having been a staff member of the Pontifical Council on Legislative Texts for 13 years. He also has lots of time on his hands, as his archbishop has no intention of handing over the reins of the local church until he reaches 75, two years hence.
Bernie grew up in the Brookline neighborhood of the city of Pittsburgh, went to Resurrection grade school and South Hills Catholic (now Seton-LaSalle) High School. He did his undergraduate work at Columbia, and his law studies at Harvard. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Pittsburgh in 1989.
As Bernie noted in an interview, his job as administrator is just to listen to the people and to keep the pastoral ministries going. Of course, the Apostolic Nuncio and Rome will be very very interested in his perceptions and understandings of what the archdiocese needs, and what qualities the next archbishop there will have to bring, for healing and reconciliation. After they meet him, the people and priests of St. Paul and Minneapolis will be wishing that Bernie was their archbishop.
Cardinal Donald Wuerl recently visited a building in Washington where Catholic bishops have been scarce to visit--the headquarters of the AFL-CIO. As reported in a blogpost by Michael Sean Winters on the website of the National Catholic Reporter here , Cardinal Wuerl gave the keynote address at a conference co-sponsored by the Institute for Policy Research and Catholic Studies of the Catholic University of America and the AFL-CIO. His talk was entitled, "The Catholic Ideal of Solidarity and the New Evangelization." Winters gives the talk the highest marks, saying Wuerl "hit a home run."
Winters also remarked that both Wuerl and AFl-CIO president Richard Trumka hail from western Pennsylvania. Winter said the two of them, "joked about the fact that their parents would be a bit surprised to find their children having reached the offices they hold. Both men are now in positions of authority and responsibility, but the ease with which they spoke of one another betrayed something deeper than a geographic link. They both have spent time with working people and with their concerns. They have the smell of the sheep. They spoke not only with authority but with authenticity."
I know what Winters means. Last Labor Day, Bishop Zubik invited me to give the homily at the diocesan Labor Day Mass in St. Benedict the Moor Church in the Hill District. Bishop William Winter presided. Attending that day was Richard Trumka. After Mass I found myself next to Trumka. I shared with him that both my parents had been union members: Dad at Local 1843 of the Steelworkers and Mom in Local 5 of the SEIU. We talked for a while about how the churches and the unions need to get closer together, as they were when we were both just kids. It was a pleasure talking with Trumka.
I agree with Winters, Wuerl's talk is excellent. You can read the full text on a link in Winters blogpost, or go to Salt & Light TV website.
Wuerl's familiarity with Catholic social teaching brought back a fond memory. When then-Bishop Wuerl appointed me interim secretary for social concerns for the Diocese of Pittsburgh, I was replacing then-Father Paul Bradley. Paul was so happy to return to St. Sebastian Parish as pastor. Paul said to me, regarding my new boss: "One thing you'll never have to do is fight with Wuerl to be involved in social concerns. He understands the social teachings, and agrees with them completely." Over seven years in that office I found that to be true again and again. It sounds like Wuerl's interest in Catholic social teaching has only grown since leaving Pittsburgh.
The third Pittsburgher who made the news may not be as well received. Bishop Thomas Tobin is the bishop of Providence, Rhode Island. He has won awards for his diocesan newspaper column, "Without a Doubt." He's also a bit of a "loose cannon." (I'm sure Tom would laugh at me saying that. He'd come back, "Frank, you are the loose cannon!")
In last week's column, Tobin excoriates the attire of parishioners who attend Mass in the summer. Here's an excerpt:
"The sloppy and even offensive way people dress while attending Mass is something I've witnessed personally and regularly receive complaints about. You know what I'm talking about; you've seen it too. Hirsute flabmeisters spreading out in the pew, wearing wrinkled, very-short shorts and garish, unbuttoned shirts; mature women with skimpy clothes that reveal way too much, slogging up the aisle accompanied by the flap-flap-flap of their flip-flops; hyperactive gum-chewing kids with messy hair and dirty hands, checking their iPhones and annoying everyone within earshot or eyesight."
And he goes on to decry the water bottles and coffee cups so many bring into church. "Do they really need to be hydrated or caffeinated during that hour they're in church? Is it a sacred space or an airport terminal?"
I have to admit, I've seen all the things the good bishop has seen too. Would I put his column in my bulletin? Wellllllllll I don't know. I probably don't want to court the publicity. But I can certainly agree with his principle, "dress for church proudly enough not to offend." I sometimes wonder, do people get up on Sunday morning and deliberately decide I'll wear THAT to church?
Read the whole column for yourself, have a laugh, and then look around in church next Sunday and see if Tom is right.
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