Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit

Archdiocese of Detroit Archidiœcesis Detroitensis
Catholic
Adam Joseph Cardinal Maida Donald Hanchon Francis R. Reiss
Map
Website
aod.org

The Archdiocese of Detroit (

In January 1989, Cardinal Edmund Szoka implemented a controversial plan to close 30 churches within the city of Detroit. He also ordered 25 other parishes to improve their situation or also face closure.^[11] The plan resulted from a five-year study which analyzed maintenance costs, priest availability, parish income and membership before recommending closure of 43 parishes.^[12]

The Association of Religion Data Archives indicated a Catholic membership in the archdiocese of 907,605.^[13]

On May 5, 2011, Archbishop

On February 21, 2012, Vigneron announced a second plan to consolidate churches to address declining membership and clergy availability within the archdiocese. Under the plan, two parishes would close in 2012 and 60 others were to consolidate into 21 by the end of 2013. Six additional parishes were asked to submit a viable plan to repay debt or merge with other churches and the remaining 214 parishes in the archdiocese were asked to submit plans by the end of 2012 to share resources or merge.[15]

On June 3, 2017, the archdiocese adopted a new coat of arms featuring the archdiocesan patroness St. Anne, three stars representing the Trinity, a door representing Blessed Solanus Casey of Detroit, and waves representing the Great Lakes. It replaced a coat of arms featuring antlers and martlets that was adopted upon the diocese's elevation to an archdiocese in 1937.^[16]

In 2014, the Archdiocese of Detroit began a missionary transformation with a Year of Prayer. During 2016, listening sessions were held at every parish to learn how the faithful felt the Archdiocese of Detroit could move from maintenance to mission. In November 2016, Archbishop Vigneron led a Synod during which over 400 participants – clergy, religious and laity – gathered to pray, share and discern a plan to renew the Church in Detroit.^[17]

The fruit of those efforts was Archbishop Vigneron's pastoral letter, Unleash the Gospel, released on the Feast of Pentecost 2017. In this letter, Archbishop gave the roadmap for the missionary transformation of the Archdiocese of Detroit. This foundational document is the repository of the graces of Synod 16 that allows the work of the movement to unleash the Gospel to move forward with confidence, focus and resolve.^[18]

Response to Clergy Sexual Abuse Crisis

The Archdiocese of Detroit first implemented its Policy on the Sexual Abuse of Minors by Clergy in 1988. The current, revised policy takes into consideration events and experiences of the past 30+ years, including The Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People (the Dallas Charter), which was enacted in 2002 by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).^{[citation needed]}

The Archdiocese of Detroit fully complies with the provisions of the Dallas Charter, including restricting the ministry of any priest against whom there is a “credible allegation” of the sexual abuse of a minor or vulnerable person, and the permanent removal from ministry of any priest subsequent to a determination of clerical sexual abuse by a canonical (Church law) process^{[citation needed]}. Like all other U.S. dioceses, the Archdiocese of Detroit is subject to an independent compliance audit annually^{[citation needed]}.

Another key provision of the Charter involves safe-environment training for all clerics serving in the Archdiocese of Detroit (including those who incardinate/transfer here or are in the area under different circumstances – e.g., as a student – and want to serve publicly in priestly ministry); priest candidates at Sacred Heart Major Seminary; as well as lay personnel, volunteers and students^{[citation needed]}. Tens of thousands of individuals have been trained in the Archdiocese of Detroit over the past 17 years^{[citation needed]}.

In 2002, a newly constituted Review Board was established to consider all reports of abuse and to advise the Archbishop. The Board is led by a retired Michigan Appeals Court Judge^[who?] who was key in the drafting and adoption of the state's first Victim's Rights Act.^{[citation needed]} Other individuals currently serving on the board include a retired prosecutor who established and led Wayne County's first dedicated child abuse unit; a child psychologist; a health care executive; a former superintendent of Catholic schools; and an archdiocesan pastor.^{[citation needed]}

Pursuant to a 2002 agreement with the six Michigan county prosecutors within the Archdiocese of Detroit, every complaint received by the Archdiocese of Detroit is immediately turned over to civil authorities, regardless of its source or when the alleged abuse took place. No complaints are held back, pre-screened or disregarded^{[citation needed]}. The Archdiocese fully cooperates with law enforcement.^{[citation needed]}

Similarly, every complaint is considered by the Review Board. Regardless of what finding or course of action civil authorities may pursue, if a complaint is found by the Review Board to be credible, the priest or deacon is restricted from ministry pending further investigation and resolution of the matter. The Archdiocese considers a complaint to be credible if it has a “semblance of truth,” meaning the allegation seems to be neither manifestly false nor frivolous; it appears to be or could possibly be true. Complaints involving non-clerical personnel are processed pursuant to the Archdiocesan Code of Conduct. In 2019, a Vatican-mandated protocol was adopted in the United States for reporting allegations of sexual abuse by bishops.

In the Archdiocese of Detroit, no priest or deacon with a credible complaint against him is allowed to continue in active ministry during the time his case is under review by the Church or civil authorities. Those priests who are restricted and/or removed from ministry are monitored by a retired parole officer to ensure compliance with the strict limitations on their public ministry.^[19]

Bishops

Bishops of Detroit

1. Frederick Rese (1833–1871)
   - Peter Paul Lefevere (coadjutor bishop 1841–1869); died before succession
2. Caspar Borgess
   (1871–1887)
3. John Samuel Foley (1888–1918)
4. Michael Gallagher (1918–1937)

Archbishops of Detroit

1. Cardinal Edward Aloysius Mooney (1937–1958)
2. Cardinal
   John Francis Dearden
   (1958–1980)
3. Cardinal
   Governatorate of Vatican City State
4. Cardinal Adam Joseph Maida (1990–2009)^[20]
5. Allen Henry Vigneron (2009–present)^[21]

• Arturo Cepeda
  (2011–present)
• Robert Joseph Fisher (2016–present)
• Paul Fitzpatrick Russell (2022–present), holds the title of Archbishop ad personam; not currently exercising public ministry.^{[22][23] [24]}
• Jeffrey M. Monforton (2023-present)^[25]

Former auxiliary bishops of Detroit

• Bishop of Grand Rapids
• Joseph C. Plagens (1924–1935), appointed Bishop of Sault-Sainte Marie-Marquette
• Bishop of Saginaw
• Bishop of Grand Rapids
• Coadjutor Bishop of Lansing
  and subsequently succeeded to that see
• John Anthony Donovan (1954–1967), appointed Bishop of Toledo
• Henry Edmund Donnelly (1954–1967)
• Bishop of Grand Rapids
• Walter Joseph Schoenherr (1968–1995)
• Thomas Gumbleton (1968–2006)
• Joseph Leopold Imesch (1973–1979), appointed Bishop of Joliet in Illinois
• Arthur Henry Krawczak (1973–1982)
• Apostolic Administrator
  of the Diocese of Gary (1992–1995)
• Patrick R. Cooney (1982–1989), appointed Bishop of Gaylord
• Moses Anderson, SSE (1982–2003)
• Bishop of Winona
• Kevin Michael Britt (1993–2002), appointed Coadjutor of Grand Rapids and subsequently succeeded to that see
• John Clayton Nienstedt (1996–2001), appointed Bishop of New Ulm
• Allen Henry Vigneron (1996-2003), appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Oakland and subsequently succeeded to that see; later appointed Archbishop of Detroit
• Leonard Paul Blair (1999–2003), appointed Bishop of Toledo
• Earl Boyea (2002–2008), appointed Bishop of Lansing
• Coadjutor Bishop of Winona
  and subsequently succeeded to that see
• Francis R. Reiss (2003–2015)
• Walter A. Hurley (2003–2005), appointed Bishop of Grand Rapids
• Daniel E. Flores (2006–2009), appointed Bishop of Brownsville
• Coadjutor Archbishop of Agana
  (Guam) and subsequently succeeded to that see
• Donald Hanchon (2011–2023)
• Gerard William Battersby (2016–2023), appointed Bishop of La Crosse

Other priests of this diocese who became bishops

• Bishop of Covington
  in 1884
• Bishop of Oklahoma City
  in 1924
• Bishop of Saginaw
  in 1938
• Bishop of Saginaw
  in 1980
• Bishop of Helena
  in 1994
• Bishop of Steubenville
  in 2012
• Bishop of Gary
  in 2019

Churches and regions

The Detroit Archdiocese is divided into four administrative regions: Central (City of Detroit); Northeast (including

Schools

As of 2013 the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit had 96 schools with 30,000 students. As of 2013 there are four Catholic grade schools and three Catholic high schools in the City of Detroit, with all of them in the city's west side.^[28]

In the 1964–1965 school year, there were 360 schools operated by the archdiocese, with about 110 grade schools in Detroit, Hamtramck, and

• Madonna University
• Marygrove College (closed in December 2019)^[29]
• Sacred Heart Major Seminary
• University of Detroit Mercy

Photo gallery

• 
  Chapel (1961) of the Felician Sisters in Livonia, Michigan - architectural sculpture by Corrado Parducci.
• 
  The former Duns Scotus College, once a

  Franciscan monastery in Southfield

  , is now the non-denominational Word of Faith.
• 
  Former Duns Scotus College in Southfield.
• 
  Cardinal Maida outside of the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit

Suffragan sees

• Diocese of Gaylord
• Diocese of Grand Rapids
• Diocese of Kalamazoo
• Diocese of Lansing
• Diocese of Marquette
• Diocese of Saginaw

See also

• Catholic Church by country
• Hierarchy of the Catholic Church
• Polish cathedral style churches
• Religion in Metro Detroit
• List of Catholic dioceses in the United States

Notes