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Msgr. Hanchon sings, Mariachi band plays at post-ordination reception

Published December 8, 2006

Photo by Larry A. Peplin Msgr. Don Hanchon sings a Mexican tune at the reception following the ordination of Bishop Daniel Flores.

Photo by Larry A. Peplin Bishop Daniel Flores mingles with the crowd at a reception following his ordination last Wednesday.

Photo by Larry A. Peplin Bishop Daniel Flores chats with members of the mariachi band that played at the reception following his ordination to bishop.

A reception following the episcopal ordination of Bishop Daniel Flores offered something for everyone — food, a chance to meet the new bishop, and song.

Msgr. Don Hanchon, pastor at largely Hispanic Holy Redeemer Parish, Detroit sang "México, lindo y querido"— "Mexico, beautiful and beloved" — with Bishop Daniel Flores at the reception following Bishop Flores' ordination, which drew several hundred guests. The song, made popular by famous Mexican vocalist Jorge Negrete, is about missing one's homeland.

Msgr. Hanchon, who said he sings it at his parish for Mexicans living in the United States who are homesick, said he was not nervous. "I only know two songs in Spanish," he said, laughing. "That's one of them."

The reception, complete with mariachi band and a cactus-shaped ice sculpture, celebrated Bishop Flores' Hispanic heritage as well as his ordination to bishop earlier that afternoon. Family and friends from Bishop Flores' former diocese of Corpus Christi, Texas attended, as well as people of all ages from the Archdiocese of Detroit, many Hispanics who have been thrilled that a Hispanic bishop has been assigned to Detroit to help lead the people.

His ordination made him both the youngest bishop in the United States and the first Hispanic bishop in Michigan.