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Cardinal Adam Maida, celebrating his golden anniversary as a priest, says, "I'm grateful, first of all to God for the call to priesthood."

Q - As you look back on your 50 years as a priest, what are you most grateful for?
A - Well, I'm grateful first of all to God for the call to priesthood. When I think back to how, as a youngster, I wanted to be a priest, and why I wanted to be a priest – I just wanted to serve God's people in the setting that I knew; that is, administering the sacraments, bringing God to the lives of people and giving them a purpose in life.

As a youngster, my focus was very, very limited because I came from a limited environment, but then, to see how God has taken maybe a good heart, a vocation and just put it in his hands and, like Abraham, "take me where you will Lord," I can tell you it was never in my wildest dreams to one day be archbishop of Detroit, especially in those days when I studied at Orchard Lake, from 1946 to 1950.

The furthest thing from my mind was that I'd be back in Detroit; I just wanted to go serve my people in the Pittsburgh area. Even in a dream I couldn't imagine the experiences that I've had as a priest – just doing every day what I thought was God's will, responding to God's call. There were many happy moments, but also many challenging moments.

In 1956, after presiding at his second Mass, Fr. Adam Maida celebrates with his mother, Sophie, at left, and his aunt, Jennie Kowalski.

Q - You've declared this a year of vocations for the archdiocese and have asked Catholics to answer the Lord's call to serve. Can you describe how the Lord called you to the priesthood?
A - It just happened. I grew up in a family where faith made a big difference in our lives, and I had a wonderful family. My mother is still living, and I'm grateful for her example, her prayers. My father died in 1961, and I have vivid memories of who he was and how he lived his faith, and I just wanted to be a person of faith and give my life in ministry to God's people.

That's pretty much it, and as a kid it was always "how can I help somebody?" That was always in my heart, and it's still that way. So, when it came to the priesthood, I just kept responding, and one thing led to another and another. Once I became a priest I thought, "thank goodness, now I'm finished with the studies, finished with the seminary," but then I get a call from (then-)Bishop John Dearden in Pittsburgh and I went to Rome to study canon law.

That opened up a whole new vista. The European experience in those days, in 1956, was very significant. They didn't have jet planes going to Italy yet, so, I had to go on a slow boat, 10 days, over to Naples from New York. I didn't know what would await me, but I went and I enjoyed all those days. Those were some of the happiest days of my life.

During the time studying in Rome there were friends I made, experiences I had, being at the core of the Church, getting up there on Sundays to receive the Holy Father's blessing and at the time he recited the Angelus.

Those things sustained me, and from there I came back and went on to law school to study civil law. I never expected all that education after becoming a priest. I never asked for anything, but I always responded to the call.

I'll never forget, after I had earned my degrees in canon law and civil law – which was very uncommon in those days – I asked Bishop John Wright, later Cardinal Wright, "Bishop, what am I going to do?" He said, "I don't know what a civil lawyer, canon lawyer, who's a priest does. Do whatever you have to do."

I just began answering the phone and before you knew it, I was involved in all kinds of legal situations, Church/state situations, and in a ministry that was way beyond me.

Q - It took you all the way to cases before the U.S. Supreme Court …
A - I didn't argue before them, but I was admitted to practice before the Supreme Court, and I prepared some arguments, some cases. A few years ago, I was in the cathedral in Washington, D.C., at the Red Mass (for the legal profession), and there were justices of the Supreme Court of the United States there. The president was there and the vice president, and I was doing the homily. I never thought someday I would preach before the Supreme Court. It's better to preach to them than it is to argue before them. They listened, and it was a memorable experience.

Cardinal Adam Maida anoints the altar with sacred chrism oil at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament after the renovation. The poured oil is then rubbed into the altar.  The rededication Mass was March 25, 2003, the feast of the Annunciation.

Parents and priests among his influences

Q - As a young man, who were the principal influences on you and your vocation discernment? Were those influences priests, religious sisters, family members?
A - Well, the first, I guess, would be my parents. My parents were always devout people of faith. Being a Depression kid, we knew all about poverty, we knew about jobs, and the difficulties people have.

Classmates Adam Maida and Anthony G. Bosco, shown inthe fall of 1951 during their seminary days at St. Vincent Seminary in Latrobe, Pa., became prelates. Bishop Bosco served as shepherd of the diocese of Greensburg, Pa. until his retirement at age 76 was accepted by Pope John Paul II on Jan. 2, 2004.

Then there was a priest who came from Detroit to minister to the little Polish community there – the parish only had about 100 families. So, Fr. Ed Sierocki came as a young priest and I was an altar boy.

In those days I served Mass every day and I was inspired by his spirituality, his love for the people, and the way he bonded with the people.

I'll never forget how he used to take us fishing, us young altar boys, and he taught me how to put a worm on a hook. I didn't like to put the worm on the hook, and when I caught a fish I didn't like to take the fish off the hook either. But, I liked to fish, and I liked to eat them.

What I remember most was how before Mass he would always be at prayer, and then after Mass he would always make his thanksgiving and spend 5-10 minutes in silent prayer. I admired his prayer life, the way he celebrated Mass, the way he responded to the people and their needs.

Cardinal Maida speaks at the Cardinal's Gala at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in June 2003. The annual event is a fundraiser for Sacred Heart Major Seminary.

At age 16, I made it known to Fr. Sierocki and to Fr. Anthony Muszynski, who also studied at Orchard Lake, that I had made up my mind I wanted to be a priest.

But when my Latin teacher asked, "Adam, what are you going to be when you grow up?" and I said, "I'm going to be a priest," she said, "What a waste. Why don't you be a doctor or a lawyer, and you'll make a difference."

So, I had a dilemma. My one teacher saying go be a doctor or a lawyer, but when I told Fr. Muszynski and Fr. Sierocki the story, they got together and I was out of there. Since there weren't any Catholic schools in the area, the two priests arranged for me to come to Orchard Lake.

And Fr. Sierocki didn't send me on a bus or a train, he drove me up here from Pittsburgh. I'll never forget it – we got to Orchard Lake and he introduced me to the rector, and then he said. "Let's go have dinner." And took us to the Book-Cadillac Hotel on Washington Boulevard. We had a steak dinner, and as a youngster just 16 years old I didn't even know how to use a fork and knife properly.

Going into the Book-Cadillac and having dinner with them – we spent the whole evening talking – was quite an experience.

So, my parents were the primary source of my vocation, but then there were these two priests who God sent into my life. I think it's ironic that one was from Detroit, where I would later come as archbishop. To think that Detroit had too many priests, so this priest comes to this little town in Pennsylvania, and that he took me to the Book-Cadillac for dinner, which is just a block from the archbishop's office in the Chancery Building.

The Book-Cadillac's in shambles now, but it's going to be rejuvenated, and it'll be another sign of the growth in our city.

Q - What do you consider to be some of the highlights of your almost 16 years as archbishop of Detroit?
A - One highlight throughout the years has been working with God's people and being able to be an instrument of grace, and I keep reflecting on the fact that the bishop is a successor to the apostles and in a very real way is a visible force in providing unity in the local Church. Just to be able to minister God's people, to keep a flock alive and vibrant and full of hope, and leading God's people on life's journey, and to be part of that reality of what a bishop is and how he relates to his people and what his function is, that's a big highlight.

I think of the fact that (the restructured) Sacred Heart Major Seminary had been open just a year when I came, and the way the seminary has blossomed and what a vibrant force it is in our Church, in our community, and what a great future there seems to be evolving from what has been planted.

Years have been filled with joys, challenges

Q - And of course with the very recent addition of the licentiate in theology degree …
A - That's right. It's become not only a seminary, but a seminary that has the right to grant a pontifical degree, and we are well on our way to granting other pontifical degrees.

Cardinal Adam Maida during the consecration at an outdoor Mass during the Eucharistic Congress Sept. 14-17, 2000, at St. John Center, Plymouth Township.

It's not just a building, it's not just the physical things you see, but the living reality of more than a thousand students – not only seminarians, but the seminarian population is growing extremely well.

Given our times and our culture, the vitality and vibrancy of this institution is significant in the Church today and for tomorrow.

As I look back, another force of unity that brought our people together was the renovation of the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament, the mother Church of our archdiocese, which has been restored and reconstructed. And today, it too has taken on a new life. It's not just a church in the city, it's an archdiocesan church that attracts many people to archdiocesan functions, and we're proud of that.

Then, I'll never forget the challenge I had with the former St. John's Provincial Seminary property in Plymouth Township. When I arrived, I had three months to act on an option that Cardinal Szoka and his advisors had put together. It was an option to sell the property, but I had the option of nullifying the contract and I chose that option. But I had no idea what would happen, and I look at St. John's today and how that has grown and developed, and all the things that attract people there, and I just thank the people for their response.

Also, I'll never forget the Stewards for Tomorrow campaign early on in my time and how that brought the people together and focused the whole of our local Church on the need for Catholic education and Catholic schools, and how the people responded so generously.

Q - Stewards for Tomorrow created an endowment that will last in perpetuity and …

Cardinal Maida as he spoke about Stewards for Tomorrow, a major fund-raising drive he launched in 1994, with education to be the primary beneficiary.

A - It's all securely endowed, and it keeps growing, and there are literally thousands of needy children who have benefited from those donations. Speaking of the highlights of my ministry, I'm just grateful to God for the great cooperation and collaboration of the clergy. We've had a wonderful relationship. There have been challenges, but nonetheless we have worked together and then the people have gathered around. So, it's not just my ministry, but somehow I have to be God's instrument. It's all God's work, and I don't take any credit for it – I just happen to be here. But God works through us; we open ourselves to His grace and He blesses our efforts.

Q - What have been some of the more difficult and challenging things you have had to deal with as Detroit's archbishop?
A - There's no question in my mind – the most challenging thing that I've had to deal with is the situation of sexual abuse by priests of minors in our community. There isn't a bishop in our country who hasn't had this as a challenge in his diocese.

In a large metropolitan archdiocese such as Detroit, I've had to deal with situations that took place 30-40 years ago, and I can tell you there have been situations that have been very, very difficult personally.

Cardinal Maida discusses Protecting God's Children, the archdiocesan response to the clergy sex abuse crisis, duringa press conference Feb. 5, 2004.

You think of young children being victimized, priests betraying a trust – a sacred trust – that's the most difficult thing that I've ever faced. It was a two-year period that consumed all my psychic and spiritual energies.

But I also believe God gives each one of us a challenge. Nothing was more bleak than Good Friday, on Calvary, nothing more hopeless, and yet there was the Resurrection. The most difficult thing about clergy sex abuse crisis was that it went to the heart – for me as a priest and for all my brother priests and all the people. I especially think of the young people, the victims who were hurt or harmed in any way, because if we are a community of love and a community focused on the Lord in sharing God's gifts, then that kind of betrayal is such a very serious thing.

Closing schools was another challenge. It was something I had to address, and there were many reasons these decisions had to be carried out. The fact was that the Catholic population kept moving, and you have to deal with what was happening, but in my heart there was nothing that I would have preferred more than to see them stay open.

I think of Sacred Heart Major Seminary – it's running; St. John's – is beautiful. I look at the Cathedral – it's great. I think of the wonderful churches I've blessed throughout the archdiocese – they're beautiful, but to close things as vital as our schools, for me, was very, very, very difficult, and I just wish I hadn't had to deal with that. Our young people are the future of the Church, so it is not only the schools as institutions, but that's where our young people are formed, introduced to the faith, and it's where you give them a life-long road map, if you will. I'd rather deal with opening new schools.

Today, one of our highest priorities is youth ministry. It used to be that our youth were educated in our schools. Now we have to deal with developing programs and new ways by which we can reach our young people, have them know the Lord, and teach them the Faith, and that is a tremendous challenge, especially a culture which is often very secular. I wish we had more schools – that's a better way – but not having that many we have to find other ways.

Cardinal Maida blesses a garden area with a statue of the Blessed Mother, a gift from the youth of the archdiocese, at St. John Center, Plymouth Township, during the Eucharistic Congress Sept. 14-17, 2000.

Vatican II touched the life of the Church

Q - You've seen many changes in the Church since you were ordained a priest. What would you say were the most monumental changes, and what have they meant for the people?
A - I would say that when I was a youngster and I wanted to be a priest, the priest's role was very defined — there was the priest and then there was the people. That's the Church I was born into and was ordained in. And then came the Second Vatican Council, and the most significant changes happened with the council. The council challenged all of us to re-energize our spiritual lives, our relationship with God, and our relationship with one another in different ways.

So, Vatican II was the bedrock on which I had to change from one idea of priesthood to another. And that other was maybe much deeper and much more satisfying in the end, but it was also much more difficult, because we had to change so quickly.

Cardinal Maida visits with Sr. Angele Hinckey during the 150th anniversary celebration of the Daughters of Charity on May 21, 1995.

The element that was most visible was the change in the liturgy. It touched the lives of everybody. It touched the lives of the priests, it touched the lives of the people, it touched the relationships between people and among people, and even to this day we see the changes evolving in our relationships.

In those days we were Catholic and were very insolated. Then we opened up and began to think ecumenically. I just got back from Rome a week ago, and now our concern is not only ecumenism, but how as a Christian community to relate to a Muslim world and to the Hindus.

Then you have the phenomenon of the growth of lay leadership in the Church. In my younger days we had lay societies, the altar society took care of the church and we had the Holy Name Society, where the men came together and we prayed and we were a fraternity and our faith was the glue that held us together.

But then, all of a sudden we find the laity – an educated laity, a committed laity – asserting and exercising a tremendous leadership in the Church. And that keeps evolving.

When I talk about laity I'm talking about laity across the board. Technically, religious women are lay, canonically, but nonetheless we know their influence in history, especially the last few hundred years – in our schools, in our hospitals and elsewhere –and how that ministry has changed and evolved.

Now you have a laity that has assumed much of what the priest and the religious women used to do, at least in the United States, and you see lay men and lay women assuming roles in the Church that are, in my judgment, very, very important and very, very hopeful and life-giving. The laity has assumed a new place in the life of our Church, and so the life of the priest has changed, because he needs to relate differently to his people in his ministry.

Q - How has your spiritual life changed over the years as you went from being a priest to a bishop to an archbishop, to now being a cardinal? With all your responsibilities and demanding schedule, do you find it a challenge to maintain your prayer life?
A - Well, the spiritual life has changed in as far as when I was a youngster I was worried about my relationship with God, right? That seemed to be the focus and the core, and you found that in prayer, in the devotional life that we led – following the example of the parents and the people around us. As my life as a priest evolved – becoming a priest in positions of leadership, then as a bishop, and now a cardinal in the Church – the spiritual dimension becomes much broader and much richer.

A homeless man, left, clasps hands with Fr. Dan Havron, OFM, pastor of St. Aloysius Parish, as Fr. Havron, Archbishop Adam Maida, Fr. Michael Bugarin and Fr. John Market, OFM, leave the church on their way to the official blessing of the new St. Al's Community Center on Jan. 12, 1994. The center includes a hospitality center for Detroit's homeless.

As to time, I have to structure my personal life. I set aside time in the morning for prayer, and it's a rare day when I turn on a radio or a TV before 9 a.m. Those hours are my quiet time with the Lord.

In the evening I try to wind down with prayer, coming back to the Lord. Everything in between is just one meeting after another, and dealing with problems, and it seems there aren't many opportunities for ministry. It's very, very busy, and consumes you intellectually, spiritually and emotionally and in every way.

So, the spiritual life has to be structured, and I have structured mine, and I ask the Lord most to help me do my work, my ministry. It's not focused on me; I figure the Lord will take care of me if I take care of the Lord's work.

How can I best give myself to others? What can I do today? That becomes the focal point for my examination of conscience. Am I using all my gifts and talents to build up the Body of Christ? I'm very concerned about it, especially having become an archbishop of a major diocese and a cardinal.

You become so conscious about your world problems. I've traveled extensively and have extensive experience of the local Church throughout the whole world. I see the suffering of people. I see the great injustices that are out there. I see the poverty of the global South and then the wealthy and secular societies of the North, and seeing the great inequality, you wonder what can we do about that.

You become much more conscious of the simplicity of life you experience where there is a lot of poverty but where you also find a huge love of God that sustains the people.

Sometimes I go to the homes of the poorest of the poor, and I come out actually one of the richest. I've experienced their faith, their love of God, and yet, you see the injustice. That challenges you.

As I minister among our people in the archdiocese, I have found them to be an extremely, extremely generous people. You take the Asian tsunami and Katrina, and their response has been just automatic. People want to help, and they know that God has blessed us, but then, God having blessed us, how do we share that with those who are in real need?

So, my spiritual life has taken on a dimension in which I have a relationship with the Lord. It's a very sacred one and a very privileged one, and one in which I hope I can make the grade as a bishop and be the center of unity for the people of God here in the archdiocese.

Learn to trust in the Lord; He never fails us

Q - As a cardinal-archbishop you are a very public person, but everyone has a private side. We know you are an avid golfer, and we learned earlier this year that you are a longtime Pittsburg Steelers fan. Would you tell us something most people don't know about you? For example, do you have other pastimes or is there a favorite kind of music or perhaps favorite television programs or movies or novels you enjoy?
A - In some ways I have to say I think my life used to be much more interesting. I used to enjoy a little jazz or I used to enjoy the stage. I loved Shakespeare. I loved dramas, the theater, but I think in my life as a bishop I've been to maybe two or three plays, but that's about it.

Seminarian Todd Laginess, now a priest, with Archbishop Adam Maida at the archbishop's residence during an annual picnic for Sacred Heart Major Seminary.

I don't have that opportunity, as now my life has taken on a much more serious note. But I do have to have an outlet to enjoy some things. I do enjoy golf, but the secret is that I enjoy the people I play golf with more than I enjoy the game. That's the important thing. It gives you time to relax and to get away from other concerns.

Another escape is that I like classical music. I mainly like classical music in the evening, so there's a time I like to put it on for an hour or so and do some light reading and just kind of wind down in that way.

The thing I miss most is all the friendships I have had. They've been very difficult to maintain and sustain. I traveled and worked extensively throughout the country when I was a priest, and I love the friends I've had. Trying to keep in contact is always a challenge, to find the time, and how do you keep connected?

I have to apportion my time. There's a time I do serious thinking and I try to keep that for the morning and the meetings for the afternoons. Evenings are very often social events – it's a joy to just be home for a meal.

I do try, every month or six weeks max, or whenever there's really a holiday – you know, at Christmas or the Fourth of July or Labor Day or whatever – to go back to Pittsburgh. My family is still there. My mother's still living and at home. She's going to be 98 in September. Her mind is just perfect, her memory's great, and so those have become my special days.

Q - You said recently that the Holy Father asked that you continue on as Detroit's archbishop for the time being. In fact, how is it you said he said it?
A - I got it in a letter and then I also had a subsequent conversation with the Holy Father. I thanked him for the letter and then we both smiled and then he said, "Donec aliter provideatur," which is to say, "I'd like you to stay on as archbishop until you hear otherwise."

Q Are you, nevertheless, looking forward to eventual retirement, and have you thought how you will spend those retirement years when they come?
A - Well, I'm realistic. I have to say that the energy level is not what it was 20 years ago and that's just a natural situation. But, nonetheless, I've always just wanted to be a priest, and let that take me where the Lord takes me. Right now, I'm going to be the archbishop of Detroit until the Holy Father decides otherwise and that it might be time for me to slow down a bit and maybe relax.

But then, what am I going to do? Well, I'm just going to continue being a priest and I'll be responding first of all to the bishop who succeeds me. I'll be here to serve in whatever way I can be helpful, and then, I have my brother priests who have been so generous in their life of service to God's people. I'd just like to be there to help them as much as I can, doing weekend work or whatever. One thing, I'm not going to do is just stay home and play golf – that's for sure. As long as I have the ability to minister and be a priest, that's going to be my focus.

Q - You've always been supportive of The Michigan Catholic. Do you think the diocesan press has an important role to play in the local Church and what would that role be? How would you characterize it?
A - Well, the world of modern communication has made a big difference in our Church, in our Church life – being able to communicate with God's people by communicating the Gospel message. Through The Michigan Catholic I can share God's Good News with God's people, share the experience of others, tell the good stories, even tell the sad stories, too, and how we learn from them.

With our own paper we can preach God's Word, proclaim it, and show how it's lived out. It is absolutely essential in my mind that we have a communication piece like The Michigan Catholic, but having said that, I'm also aware of in these days that people don't read newspapers like they used to.

The Internet is becoming more and more the means of communicating and the printed media are changing dramatically as we sit here and wondering how to survive into the future.

The one thing we need absolutely and categorically is communication. We have to communicate the Good News. So, whether it's The Michigan Catholic, or CTND, our cable TV television network, or the Internet – whatever form the media take – we need to be there. Because if we're not there other voices will drown us out, and they will form our culture and dictate the future.

All of these are God's gifts. When I started my priesthood there wasn't an Internet, but today we are working with it and we grow into situations where we have to relate to the challenges of the day.

Cardinal Maida speaks with Ned McGrath, Director of Communications, and guests on "Dialogue," a television show on the Catholic Television Network of Detroit (CTND).

I think The Michigan Catholic is an indispensable instrument now and we may have to take on a new form, we may have to do more online.

We have to continue to develop these resources of communication and know how to use them. So, is The Michigan Catholic important? Absolutely.

Q - After 50 years as a priest, are there any words of encouragement you would like to give to those contemplating a priestly vocation?
A - Our late Holy Father, John Paul II, had a few phrases that keep sticking in my mind and people have heard it all along. Today many people have difficulty making commitments, life-long commitments, and I mean in this in all areas of our society. We see that marriage isn't as permanent as it once was. For young people today making a life-long decision – a commitment for life – I would reflect on the words of the Holy Father, "Do not be afraid." And then the words that our Holy Father has used so often "Jesus, I trust in you," the words of St. Faustina.

So, trust in the Lord, and that's about it. Don't be afraid of any situation, any problem or challenge, because you're doing God's work. God never fails. Our Lord is always there.

Once you have that deep faith, there's nothing that doesn't have an answer, no challenge that can't be met. You're doing your best to live God's will.

Q - As you look to the future, what would be your message to youths and young adults in the Church, teenagers and those in those post high school, college and young adult years?
A - I think any thinking person has to come and face the reality that none of us is eternal, we are all mortal. The fundamental questions of life need a response, and somehow we have to discover that.

I would suggest to young people that Jesus Christ is the answer, and once you know the Lord, once you experience the Lord's presence, you will find that He is indeed the way, the truth and the life, and if you follow in that way you will find an answer to the ultimate questions of who are you and where you are going.

And you also get the means to accomplish the journey, and that's through the sacramental life of the Church, through the relationships that we have with one another, and through our challenge to be of service to one another.

It's through working together as a community that we come to answer the individual questions of where did I come from? who am I? and where am I going? We discover that, not alone, but in conjunction with others.

The guiding light is Christ. If we have the Lord to guide us, everything else can somehow be answered. We put our trust in the Lord – like Abraham trusted in God, and wherever God led him he followed, and in the end he was exalted.