Archbishop to celebrate Mass Oct. 23 at Abbey and University Church

Archbishop Bernard Hebda of the Saint Paul and Minneapolis Archdiocese will celebrate the Student Mass at 9 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 23, at Saint John's Abbey and University Church.

"As the archbishop of our neighboring diocese and since many of our students come from the archdiocese, we wanted to extend an invitation to the archbishop to welcome him and pray with him," said Fr. Nick Kleespie OSB, chaplain of Saint John's University.

This will be Hebda's first official visit to SJU since he became archbishop of the Saint Paul and Minneapolis Archdiocese in May.

Saint John's University President Michael Hemesath will offer an official welcome at the beginning of Mass.

"We are thrilled to welcome Archbishop Hebda to our campus, and we look forward to him interacting with our campus community," Hemesath said.

Before Mass, Hebda will eat dinner in the Refectory at SJU with College of Saint Benedict and SJU students from the archdiocese. Following Mass, a social will be held for the archbishop in the Great Hall.

Archbishop Hebda is a native of Pittsburgh. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University, and a Juris Doctor degree from the Columbia University School of Law.

He was ordained to the priesthood in 1989 in Pittsburgh. He served as the fourth bishop of the Diocese of Gaylord, Michigan (2009-13) and coadjutor archbishop of the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey (2013-15).

In June 2015, Pope Francis named Hebda the Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

Less than a year later, Pope Francis named him Archbishop-Designate of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. Hebda's Installation Mass took place on May 13, the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima, at the Cathedral of Saint Paul.