US bishops elect Archbishop Hebda as treasurer-elect, five new committee chairs

BALTIMORE (OSV News) -- Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis was elected treasurer of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Nov. 12, bringing valuable experience from his own archdiocese to the conference post.

The bishops chose Archbishop Hebda over Bishop David J. Malloy of Rockford, Illinois, in a 156-84 vote on the morning of the first public session of the U.S. bishops' fall assembly held in Baltimore Nov. 11-14. He will serve as treasurer-elect for the next year before taking office officially at the end of the bishops' November meeting in 2025.

The Harvard-educated Archbishop Hebda has been at the helm of the Twin Cities archdiocese since 2015, where he has led an effort to restructure and realign resources following the resignation of Archbishop John C. Nienstedt in 2015 for mismanaging clergy sexual abuse cases. He was first named apostolic administrator in 2015 and then led the archdiocese as its archbishop the year after.

In addition to serving as bishop of the Diocese of Gaylord, Michigan, from 2009-2013, Archbishop Hebda was coadjutor archbishop of the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey, from 2013-2016, where he lived in a dorm at Seton Hall University.

Archbishop Hebda has a law degree from the Columbia University School of Law and a canon law degree from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. Prior to being ordained a bishop, he worked for 13 years in the Vatican at the Pontifical Council (now Dicastery) for Legislative Texts, which interprets the church’s law, and served for six years as the council's undersecretary.

Archbishop Hebda will take over the conference's treasurer post from Bishop James F. Checchio, who began his term in November 2022 and will conclude in November 2025.

The USCCB treasurer is responsible for managing the funds of the conference, for "sound fiscal administration," and also serves as vice chair of the Committee on Priorities and Plans.

This significant committee is made up of 15 bishops from every episcopal region in the U.S. and is responsible for identifying bishops willing to go on the ballot for chairmanship of various USCCB committees among other tasks.

The bishops also elected that morning new chairmen for several committees, each of whom will serve for a year as a chairman-elect before assuming the role fully at the end of next November's general assembly.

-- Committee on Divine Worship: Auxiliary Bishop Michael G. Woost of Cleveland, was elected over Archbishop Alexander K. Sample of Portland, Oregon, by a 128-112 vote.

-- Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations: Bishop Ronald A. Hicks of Joliet, Illinois, was elected over Auxiliary Bishop Juan Miguel Betancourt of Hartford, Connecticut, in a 146-94 vote.

-- Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development: Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre of Louisville, Kentucky, was elected over Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney of Paterson, New Jersey, in a 158-81 vote.

-- Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth: Bishop Edward J. Burns of Dallas was elected over Bishop James D. Conley of Lincoln, Nebraska, in a 147-91 vote.

-- Committee on Migration: Bishop Brendan J. Cahill of Victoria, Texas, was elected over Bishop Joseph J. Tyson of Yakima, Washington, in a 155-85 vote.

Finally, two bishops were confirmed overwhelmingly to serve on the board of directors of Catholic Relief Services, the international relief and development agency of the Catholic Church in the U.S.: Bishop Donald J. Hying of Madison, Wisconsin, was confirmed to serve his second term, and Auxiliary Bishop Evelio Menjivar-Ayala of Washington, was confirmed to serve his first.