Appointment News Conference
Monday, January 5, at 10 a.m.
Sacred Heart Major Seminary
Contact: Ned McGrath, Director of Communications
info@aod.org / (313) 237-5943
As we read in the book of Ecclesiastes, "There is an appointed time for everything…A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance…A time to seek, and a time to lose…God has made everything appropriate to its time…[and] I recognize that whatever God does will endure forever; there is no adding to it, or taking from it." (Ecclesiastes 3)
For the past eighteen years, I have lived in a time of grace and blessing, privileged and humbled to serve as the Archbishop of Detroit. Nearly four years ago, when I turned 75, I submitted my resignation to the Holy Father as required by Canon Law. But God had other plans and so my resignation was not accepted until today.
I am grateful to His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI and to his predecessor, the Servant of God Pope John Paul II. They have afforded me the great honor to serve as the Archbishop of Detroit. But as the writer of Ecclesiastes indicates, now is a time for change. I am delighted to introduce the 10th bishop and the 5th archbishop to lead this great metropolitan see: Archbishop-designate Allen Vigneron. He is the first son of this diocese to be appointed as its chief shepherd. Archbishop Vigneron is well-known in Detroit, the United States and throughout the world. He has served in parish ministry, on the faculty at Sacred Heart Seminary, on the staff of the Secretariat of State in the Vatican, as Rector-President of Sacred Heart Major Seminary, as an auxiliary bishop of Detroit, and most recently as Bishop of Oakland, California.
Archbishop Vigneron is coming home after having left for Oakland almost six years ago. Both the Holy Spirit and the Holy Father know of Archbishop Vigneron's gifts and talents as well as the many needs that we have here in Detroit. Over the years, I have valued his friendship and come to appreciate his wisdom, pastoral sensitivity, and loving care for all those in need. It is a great blessing to have him return back to us.
I know that I speak for Cardinal Szoka when I say that both of us, as former ordinaries of this archdiocese, offer our congratulations and assistance to continue to be of service to the Church and to you Archbishop Vigneron in whatever way we can.
Archbishop Vigneron, thank you for saying "yes" to the Holy Father's invitation to serve here in Detroit. Like the fiat of our Blessed Mother, your fiat, your "yes" will unfold for you many blessings and opportunities. Through her intercession and God's grace, may you find your ministry here to be fulfilling, life-giving, and filled with abundant blessings. Archbishop Vigneron, welcome home!
