New Detroit archbishop to be installed in special Mass: What you need to know
The new leader of the largest religious group in metro Detroit will be installed today in a special ceremony in the local seat of the Catholic Church. Bishop Edward Weisenburger, currently the leader of the Catholic diocese in Tucson, Arizona, is to formally assume power this afternoon in a Mass at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit. Here are some details about the event:
A Catholic ceremony known as the 'Mass of Installation' will take place starting at 2 p.m. that will transfer power over the Archdiocese of Detroit from Archbishop of Detroit Allen Vigneron to Weisenburger. The installation ceremony for Vigneron took place in January 2009 and lasted two and a half hours, drawing a packed crowd that included then state Attorney General Michael Cox. Cardinal Adam Maida handed Vigneron a shepherd's staff, symbolizing the transfer of power.
Pope Francis appointed Weisenburger last month. He's led Catholics in southern Arizona since 2017 and has been outspoken in support of immigrants.
Weisenburger will be the sixth archbishop of Detroit. He was born in Illinois in 1960, grew up in Lawton, Oklahoma, and also lived in Kansas and Texas because of his father's military transfers.
He was ordained in Oklahoma City as a priest in 1987 and became vicar general of the Oklahoma City Archdiocese in 1996. He served as the pastor of two parishes in Oklahoma before becoming the bishop of Salina, Kansas in 2012, and then bishop in Tucson, Arizona in 2017.
Vigneron, 76, has led the archdiocese since 2009. As required by church law, Vigneron submitted his resignation to the pope in October 2023 when he turned 75. He said he will soon live in an apartment at Sacred Heart Major Seminary.
Vigneron was born in Mt. Clemens in 1948 and became ordained as a priest in 1975. He was an auxiliary bishop in Detroit from 1996 to 2003, when Pope John Paul II named him the Bishop of Oakland, California, a diocese he led from 2003 to 2009. Pope Benedict named him the Archbishop of Detroit in January 2009.
In 2016, he led 400 participants in a Synod to plan for the future of the Catholic Church in Detroit, resulting in his pastoral letter, Unleash the Gospel.
There are currently 907,000 Catholics and 213 parishes in the Detroit archdiocese, down from 1.4 million Catholics and 281 parishes when Vigneron became archbishop in 2009. The area includes six counties: Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Lapeer, Monroe and St. Clair.
The Detroit archdiocese was formed in 1833 by Pope Gregory XVI. As the region's Catholic population grew, the diocese became in 1937 an archdiocese, which is a designation often used for areas with larger numbers of Catholics. There are 33 archdioceses in the U.S., according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The late Cardinal Edward Mooney became the first archbishop of Detroit, according to the Detroit archdiocese. In 1958, the late Cardinal John Dearden replaced him, serving until 1980. In 1981, Pope John Paul II named Edmund Casimir Szoka as Detroit's third archbishop. He became a cardinal in 1988 and served until 1990, when he was later replaced by Adam Maida, formerly the bishop of Green Bay, Wisconsin. Maida later became a cardinal and was replaced in 2009 by Vigneron, the first archbishop in Detroit not to become a cardinal.
The ceremony will start at 2 p.m. and is expected to draw clergy from across Michigan and the U.S. It is closed to the general public with attendance by invitation only, but can a livestream will be available on the Archdiocese of Detroit's YouTube and Facebook pages.
Contact Niraj Warikoo: nwarikoo@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Bishop Edward Weisenburger to be installed as Archbishop of Detroit
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