On Tuesday night, songs of praise echoed from the the Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas. “Holy Spirit you are welcome here, come flood this place and fill the atmosphere,” the gathered audience sang as they eagerly awaited the arrival of Archbishop-designate for St. Paul and Minneapolis, Bernard Hebda.

Members of Tommie Catholic collaborated with Campus Ministry, the Catholic studies department and St. Paul’s Outreach — a Twin Cities faith-building group — to present “An Evening with Archbishop-designate for St. Paul and Minneapolis, Bernard Hebda.” The Archbishop led a discussion on Pope Francis and Catholic leadership.

Attendees nearly filled the chapel, and St. Thomas President Julie Sullivan noted the high attendance.

“The turnout at this evening is ample evidence of the excitement that we all hold for the leadership of Archbishop Hebda,” she said.

Jotham Allwein works for NET Ministries in West St. Paul and was invited by Campus Ministry to attend the event. Allwein works closely with SPO.

He said the atmosphere of the event demonstrated the community’s enthusiasm.

“Excitement for the future of the Church and particularly Bishop Hebda, excitement for this diocese and all the good Catholic orthodox things that are already established,” Allwein said. “I feel like he is a bishop who can really connect to this archdiocese.”

During his talk, Hebda emphasized the Catholic Leadership Institute’s Good Leaders, Good Shepherds program’s definition of leadership.

“For us as Catholics, the paradigm for leadership has to be Jesus himself,” Hebda said. “The apostles knew that the wonderful line in the gospel: ‘Lord to whom shall we go, you have the words of everlasting life.’ They wanted to be part of his vision, a mutually shared vision.”

Hebda went on to emphasize the importance of choosing good leaders to follow.

“If we are looking for leaders in the world to follow, we need to discern those leaders who have aligned themselves with the vision of Christ, the good shepherd, and the church,” Hebda said, “A knowledge of Christ and his church, and that comes from prayer, from study, from a life of encountering Christ.”

During the event, Hebda pointed to models of what it means to be a leader and provided examples, noting the sisters present.

One of those, Sister Eileen Leon, appreciated Hebda’s message.

“Our leadership should come naturally though our relationship with Jesus,” Sister Eileen said. “ I think it’s the essence of our faith, what (the) Archbishop was saying, how our relationship with Jesus will bring others to Christ.”

While he emphasized that Jesus is the ultimate model for leadership, Pope Francis is another of Hebda’s inspirations.

“For most of us we are blessed with an incredible and challenging model named Pope Francis,” he said.

Hebda referenced Forbes, The Wall Street Journal and Time magazine.

“You name it, they have written about Pope Francis and his exercise of the vision,” Hebda said.

Hebda compared the pope’s big dreams to his own planning strategy, called “Big Hairy Audacious Goals.”

“No goal is bigger, hairier or more audacious than what is envisioned by Pope Francis,” Hebda said, “But that big vision nearly isn’t enough. A leader needs to be able to articulate that mission.”

Hebda also discussed forms of communication that Pope Francis uses to connect with his audience, including the pope’s careful use of gestures and repetition.

“He understands that much of the world values actions more than words,” Hebda said. “He also understands you need to overcompensate to people to have them clearly understand. He is not afraid of repeating key ideas.”

It’s more than just simple communication that makes Pope Francis a leader, it’s the personal touch he uses when he addresses the world, according to Hebda.

“We can’t be more personal than getting out and meeting people where they are,” he said. He commented on how the pope spends time before and after events and speeches meeting with people.

Pope Francis gains firsthand knowledge from his involvement and interactions with people.

“It is one thing to have a meaning to study the problem of drugs in a slum neighborhood but quite another to go there,” Hebda said. “Pope Francis does that.”

“I really like what the Archbishop said about Pope Francis and how he meets people where they are at,” St. Thomas senior Molly Amundson said. “Encouraging people in our lives to always remember that no matter where they are in their lives they are Christ in the world.”

Hebda discussed how the the pope does not speak about poverty; rather, he speaks about the poor.

“There’s always uncanny ability to stay focused on the human person,” Hebda said. “Pope Francis doesn’t speak about homosexuality in general, he speaks about persons who struggle with same-sex attraction; he never loses sight of the individual person.”

Kayla Hillberg, a senior at South Dakota State University attended the event while visiting a friend. Hillberg connected with the portion of the speech that discussed the grace the Lord has for people in their everyday lives, and ways to spread that grace to the people she interacts with.

“We would do well to learn from Francis about the importance of being continually sensitive to those who are outside our comfort zone,” Hebda said. “Those who are particularly in need: the poor, the hurt, the disadvantaged, we need to be able to gain their perspective as well.”

Seminarian Aaron Downing is part of the Tommie Catholic leadership committee. For Downing, Hebda’s comments on humility were the most memorable part of the talk.

Hebda emphasized his belief that the Lord is continuing to raise up leaders.

“In our own lives, we have to be convinced that Christ is going to prevail, that he loves us and is bound to see us. We have to root in prayer, root in scripture,” Hebda said. “Leaders who were able to lead as Christ led, lead as Pope Francis leads.”

Emily Sweeney can be reached at swee4225@stthomas.edu.