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Looking Back at 2003
Three new bishops ordained, others moved elsewhere
Three local priests were ordained as bishops Aug. 12, replenishing the Archdiocese of Detroit's team of auxiliary bishops that had been reduced by recent appointments to head up dioceses elsewhere.
Msgr. Walter Hurley, Msgr. John Quinn and Fr. Francis Reiss were ordained by Cardinal Adam Maida at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in the first episcopal ordination ceremony to be held since completion of a major renovation of the Detroit cathedral.
 Msgr. Hurley had been pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows Parish, Farmington Hills, as well as the cardinal's delegate for sexual abuse policy reform; Msgr. Quinn was director of the archdiocesan Department of Education; and Fr. Reiss was pastor of St. Frances Cabrini Parish, Allen Park and co-chair of the archdiocesan Council of Vicars.
Their ordinations restored the team of local auxiliary bishops recently depleted by the appointments of Bishop Allen Vigneron to the Diocese of Oakland, Calif., and of Bishop Kevin Britt to the Diocese of Grand Rapids. Both were initially named coadjutor bishops, and have since become the diocesan ordinaries.
The archdiocese also faced the impending retirement of Auxiliary Bishop Moses Anderson, SSE, later in the year, and lost Auxiliary Bishop Leonard Blair who was appointed bishop of Toledo. Bishop Blair was installed in his new diocese Dec. 4.
Since their ordination, the bishops have been assigned special responsibilities to the new regions into which the archdiocese is divided -- Bishop Hurley to the Northwest Region (most of Oakland and all of Lapeer counties), Bishop Quinn to the Central Region (Detroit and immediate suburbs), and Bishop Reiss to the South Region (western Wayne and all of Monroe counties). In addition, Auxiliary Bishop Earl Boyea, ordained in 2002, was assigned to the Northeast Region (most of Macomb and all of St. Clair counties).
Bp. Reiss has also been named Cardinal Maida's delegate for vicariate pastoral planning.
- Robert Delaney
Relic of St. Juan Diego visits Detroit
Emotions ran high for the Catholic Hispanic community on Oct. 24.
That day, a relic of the Mexican St. Juan Diego was displayed at Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit.
It was a time for veneration, reflection and celebration as Catholics from all over the metro area came to the mother church to pay tribute to the Blessed Mother.
Many Hispanics -- because of their relationship through heritage to the Native Mexican St. Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe -- appeared especially moved by the relic's visit. And, according to organizers, they hosted the tribute to Our Lady of Guadalupe.
"Today, the Hispanic community made the cathedral their home -- and they opened their home to everybody," said Fr. Donald Hanchon, pastor of Holy Redeemer Parish in Detroit, who helped organize the visit.
 The relic -- a small piece of St. Juan Diego's cloak on which in 1531 an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe miraculously appeared -- came from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, which toured it in various U.S. cities to honor the Blessed Virgin in the Year of the Rosary.
Many who attended said they felt close to the events that happened on Tepeyac Hill -- where the relic originated. There, the Blessed Mother appeared to Juan Diego, asking him to tell the bishop that a church was to be built on the hill. After the bishop asked the poor native for a sign, the Blessed Mother made roses grow in the winter, and told Juan Diego to wrap them in his tilma and carry them to the bishop. When Juan Diego unrolled his tilma, the image of the Blessed Mother appeared on it -- and is still miraculously intact today.
To celebrate the relic's visit to Detroit, rosaries and silent prayer times were held throughout the day, high school students performed a reenactment of the apparitions to St. Juan Diego, and Cardinal Adam Maida culminated the day's events with a Mass.
- Joe Kohn
Detroit priests among chaplains to U.S. troops
When war broke out with Iraq in March, several Detroit priests were among the Catholic chaplains ministering to U.S. troops there, at the U.S. base in Guantanamo, Cuba, and at bases back in the United States.
Navy chaplain Fr. Timothy Hogan was serving in Iraq with the U.S. Marine Corps' Second Transportation Support Battalion out of Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Fr. Raymond Bucon, pastor of St. Priscilla Parish in Livonia, was called to active duty with the U.S. Army's 300th Military Police Brigade, which was guarding captured terrorist fighters at Guantanamo.
Fr. Joseph Kuczborski, a native Detroiter who is priest of the Diocese of Palm Beach, was ministering to personnel at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla.
Fr. Robert Keller, pastor of St. Peter the Apostle Parish, Harper Woods, and a long-time chaplain at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Harrison Township, was serving as Air National Guard assistant to the command chaplain of the Air Mobility Command.
Fr. John Kaul was serving on the staff of a Marine general at Camp Lejeune.
Their functions varied widely, from celebrating Mass and tending to the spiritual needs of troops right on the battlefield or those guarding the Taliban and al-Queda prisoners, to ministering to troops and their families at U.S. bases or supervising and serving as liaison to other chaplains.
Fr. Keller explained his new role since the first of the year as a "support person to the ministers who minister."
Fr. Kaul said chaplains who serve on a general's staff not only decide where other chaplains (such as Fr. Hogan) should be deployed, but also take part in the planning of military actions.
"I can tell you that the chaplain on the staff of Gen. (Tommy) Franks has been in on the planning of this whole thing going on in Iraq. And when you hear how they are avoiding the mosques and holy sites, that's probably been because of the influence of that chaplain," he said.
- Robert Delaney
New rector for SHMS
Fr. Steven Boguslawski, OP, 46, was named the new rector of Sacred Heart Major Seminary, Detroit, last spring.
Fr. Boguslawski served at Sacred Heart as its dean of studies since July 2001. He became the first religious order priest to serve as rector of the seminary.
He officially became the 11th rector and president of the seminary May 1, and replaced Fr. Patrick Halfpenny, rector pro tem. Fr. Halfpenny served in the position since the previous rector, then-Auxiliary Bishop Allen Vigneron, left to become bishop of the Diocese of Oakland, Calif., in January.
Fr. Boguslawski, a Dominican friar of the St. Joseph Province, Washington, D.C., said he is eager to move forward with continuing his ministry at Sacred Heart Major Seminary. "The Church is my life. It's my vocation," he said. "I'm happy to be here."
Fr. Boguslawski helped lead several major projects at the seminary under the leadership of Cardinal Maida and Bishop Vigneron, including the creation of a Distinguished Visiting Chair for Faculty Development, and developing a pontifically approved licentiate in sacred theology (STL) degree program.
In his position as rector, Fr. Boguslawski, ordained a priest in 1987, said he can be of service to the broader Church, drawing from his insight as a Dominican. "I'm very happy to do this," he said. "I like the faculty very much. They're highly credentialed and good at what they do."
Fr. Boguslawski earned several degrees, including his licentiate in sacred theology, from the Dominican House of Studies, Washington, D.C.; and also from Yale University.
Prior to his position at Sacred Heart as academic dean, he was vice president and academic dean of the Dominican House of Studies, assistant professor of New Testament at Providence College, and instructor of New Testament at the Dominican House of Studies.
- Michelle Zotter
Church reconsecrated after fatal shooting
Auxiliary Bishop Leonard Blair (now bishop of Toledo) reconsecrated St. Paul (Albanian) Church in Rochester Hills April 4 after a member of the congregation was fatally shot during Mass on March 30. The slaying made the reconsecration necessary.
Gjon Pepaj, accused of fatally shooting Gjak Sufaj, remains in the Oakland County Jail awaiting an early 2004 trial on a charge of premeditated murder. Conviction on the charge carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison with no possibility of parole.
Both men, between whom there was reportedly some longstanding animosity, happened to be in the church that day, although neither was a registered parishioner. Pepaj reportedly fired multiple shots at Sufaj, sparking panic in the 1,300 people at the Mass. Members of the congregation began screaming and breaking through windows to escape the gunfire.
The church had been consecrated just seven months before the shooting, after parishioners raised $10 million to build the new parish complex. The national (ethnic) parish's former church had been in Warren.
- Robert Delaney
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