Bernard Hebda

Bernard Anthony Hebda (born September 3, 1959) is an American Catholic prelate who has served as archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis in Minnesota since 2016.

He previously served as apostolic administrator of the archdiocese beginning in 2015, and as coadjutor archbishop of the Archdiocese of Newark in New Jersey from 2013 to 2015, as bishop of Gaylord in Michigan from 2009 to 2013, and in the Roman Curia on the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts from 2003 to 2009.

Bernard Hebda was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on September 3, 1959, in the community of Brookline. He attended South Hills Catholic High School in Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania. He then entered Harvard University, where he earned a Bachelor of Political Science degree in 1980. Hebda received a JD from Columbia Law School at the Parker School of Foreign and Comparative Law in New York City in 1983.

Hebda studied philosophy at Saint Paul Seminary in Pittsburgh from 1984 to 1985. He lived at the Pontifical North American College in Rome and attended the Pontifical Gregorian University, where he earned a Bachelor of Sacred Theology degree (1985–1988) and a licentiate in Canon Law (1988–1990).

On July 1, 1989, Hebda was ordained by Bishop Donald Wuerl as a priest for the Diocese of Pittsburgh at Saint Paul Cathedral in Pittsburgh The diocese then assigned him to the following positions:

In 1996, Hebda went to Rome to work at the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts. In, 2000, he was named a monsignor by the Vatican. From 2003, he served as under-secretary of the Pontifical Council.

In Rome, Hebda also served as an adjunct spiritual director at the North American College and confessor to the Missionaries of Charity. He lived at the Villa Stritch, a residence for American priests working for the Vatican. In 2009, following the announcement of Hebda's appointment as a bishop, the college community presented him with a pectoral cross and crosier.

On October 7, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI named Hebda the fourth bishop of Gaylord. Hebda was consecrated and installed on December 1, 2009, at Saint Mary, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral in Gaylord, Michigan. In November 2013, Hebda was elected to chair the Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).