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Home / News & Publications / Michigan Catholic News / 2008 / Bridging generations: Our missionary origins

My Brothers and Sisters in the Lord:

On March 8, 2008, the Archdiocese of Detroit will celebrate its 175th anniversary. Over the past few months, I have reflected with the auxiliary bishops, Presbyteral Council and Archdiocesan Pastoral Council about ways to observe this milestone. It presents a unique opportunity for evangelization, allows us to highlight our unity-in-diversity and to remind people of the Church's contribution to the metro area over the decades.

Given the fact that the actual anniversary falls on a Saturday during Lent, it seems opportune to celebrate the event liturgically at the Cathedral after Easter, hopefully with an outdoor reception; for now, we are planning on Sunday afternoon, May 18.

Meanwhile, throughout the year, I intend to devote my monthly column in The Michigan Catholic to various aspects of our history and heritage. Catholic Television Network of Detroit will be producing bi-weekly short tele-spots –"Moments of History" – and we hope to provide something similar for parish bulletins. You will be hearing more about the anniversary in the months ahead. For now, I am devoting this January column to the theme "Our Missionary Origins."

The example of St. Paul the Apostle

From June 2008 through June 2009, Pope Benedict XVI has asked the Church universal to celebrate a special year commemorating the birth of St. Paul, the great apostle to the Gentiles. In light of his conversion experience, he became deeply aware of the Lord's desire to use him to call Jews and Gentiles alike to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ in and through the Church. As we reflect on the missionary origins of our own archdiocese, it is important to remember that "mission" has been a driving force of the Church's life in every time and place. Following the example of the Lord Jesus Himself, we recognize that we must share with others the Good News we have received. It was the conviction of St. Paul and all the apostles that the Gospel must be preached "to the ends of the Earth." Thanks to their openness to the Holy Spirit and their own courage, vision, and persistence, the Gospel has come to us and our metro area.

Seeds of faith in the "New World"

The Good News of Christianity came to the American continent primarily in three diverse language settings: following Columbus, in the 1500s Spanish missionaries brought the faith to Central and South America; in the mid-1700s, English Catholics settled in Maryland, and finally, French missionaries traveled along the northern parts of the United States and Canada. We trace our roots primarily to the missionary activity of these French missionaries.

This calendar year marks the 400th anniversary of missionary presence in the provinces of Quebec, Ontario, and northern New York state. The World Eucharistic Congress will be held in Quebec City this coming June in honor of that anniversary. As you may recall from our own observances in 2001, although the archdiocese has been officially a diocese only since 1833, we can truly speak of 300 years of Catholic presence within southeastern Michigan. Long before explorers and missionaries arrived "at the straits" (de-troit in the French) of Lake St. Clair and Lake Huron in the 1600s, missionaries and French trappers were already working their way down the St. Lawrence River and through the Georgian Bay. As early as 1615, the future St. Isaac Jogues, a Jesuit missionary, was visiting Chippewa Indians in the area of Sault Saint Marie, Mich. By the mid 1600s, the Jesuits had established a missionary headquarters at St. Ignace.

In July 1701, Antoine de La Mothe Cadillac arrived from Montreal "at the straits," accompanied by a Franciscan and a Jesuit. A very simple chapel was built and Mass was offered on July 26, the feast of St. Anne, and thus the city of Detroit was inaugurated and our first parish was begun.

As these missionary priests traveled throughout the Northwest Territory, they encountered many of the native peoples; in our area, they were predominantly the Hurons, Miami and Potowatomi. Throughout these early years, the developing Church was under the Bishop of Quebec.

With the establishment of the new republic of America, the Holy See appointed Fr. John Carroll as apostolic prefect for the Church in the United States in 1784. Five years later, he was named the first bishop of Baltimore with authority over all Catholics in the United States. In 1788, our second oldest parish was established on the banks of the River Raisin – St. Mary, Monroe. In 1796 St. Anne received its first resident pastor, Fr. Michael Levadoux. Two years later, two Sulpician coworkers arrived – Fr. Jean Dilhet and Fr. Gabriel Richard. Fr. Dilhet took the pastoral care of St. Mary, Monroe (at that time called St. Anthony), while Fr. Richard devoted his time and energy to Catholics along L'Anse Creuse, the Clinton River, Anchor Bay, and the St. Clair and Black rivers.

Fr. Gabriel Richard

Fr. Richard quickly became the single most dominant and significant religious and political leader of the era. While serving as pastor of St. Anne he started a school for the Native Americans, brought a printing press to Michigan and created the first newspaper in the state. Along with Rev. John Montieth, he is credited with establishing the University of Michigan. He also served as a territorial delegate to Congress and in that capacity helped ensure the establishment of what became U.S. 12, or Michigan Avenue, the road linking Detroit and Chicago.

On March 4, 1827, Pope Leo XII named Detroit a diocese with Fr. Richard its first bishop. Unfortunately, the papal bull which erected the diocese was never implemented and our great pioneer priest, Fr. Gabriel Richard, died Sept. 13, 1832, a victim of the cholera epidemic.

Growth of the Church in the early 1800s

As of 1808, the Michigan Territory came under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of a new diocese, Bardstown, Ky., and Bishop Benedict Joseph Flaget. When the Erie Canal opened in 1825, great numbers of immigrants quickly followed; plentiful opportunities in our yet-undeveloped state attracted them. With the growth of railroads, thanks to the local logging industry, Detroit became an industrial center building railroad cars.

In 1821, ecclesiastical jurisdiction for the Michigan Territory was transferred to the newly-established Diocese of Cincinnati, headed by Bishop Edward Dominick Fenwick. By 1830, there were eight priests working in the Michigan Territory, including the saintly Fr. Frederick Baraga in the northwest section of the state and the Upper Peninsula.

Establishment of the Diocese

On March 8, 1833, for a second time, Detroit was made a diocese and Fr. Frederick Rese of Cincinnati was named its first bishop with Ste. Anne's its first cathedral. At that time, the diocesan boundaries included all of Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, and portions of North and South Dakota. Between 1834 and 1838, Michigan's population grew by leaps and bounds from 7,000 to 170,000. During that time, a local newspaper reported: "The Catholics have one bishop and 30 priests and they claim a Catholic population of 20,000 to 24,000, 3,000 of whom are converted Indians, 8,000 are English, Irish, German and American, and the balance is French."

In 1834, Most Holy Trinity Parish was established for English-speaking Catholics, primarily the Irish. German Catholics were already receiving service through Assumption Grotto Parish founded in 1832 and St. Mary, Greektown, founded in 1835. St. Paul, Grosse Pointe, a parish for French farmers, was established in 1834.

Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha

As we remember our heritage and the foundation of our Church in Michigan, it is important for us to remember with gratitude and reverence the native people who were already living here prior to the arrival of the missionaries. One of the great gifts of God to our Church at its beginning was Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha (1656-1680). Although Blessed Kateri was not directly connected with the Michigan territory, the native people of our state have long held her in high regard and look to her example and intercession for encouragement.

Her father was a Mohawk chief and her mother a Catholic from the Algonquin tribe. At the age of 4 she suffered an attack of smallpox and, although she survived, the fever left her badly scarred and partially blind. She often had to feel her way as she walked; because of the groping way that she went about, she received her nickname, Tekakwitha, which means "the one who walks groping for her way."

One Native American spoke of Blessed Kateri's relationship with God this way: God left her in darkness so that she could see His light. Having lost her own parents in the smallpox outbreak, she was adopted by two of her aunts who taught her the skills necessary for farming, and even with her poor vision, she became skilled at bead work.

At 18, a Jesuit missionary came to their village in northern New York and she was fascinated by this "black robe" and his teachings. At 20 years of age, she was baptized and took the name Kateri, Mohawk for Catherine. Since her family did not accept her choice to embrace the Christian faith, she became an outcast and fled more than 200 miles through difficult terrain, finally reaching a Catholic mission near Montreal where she made her first Communion Christmas Day 1677.

She often prayed before the Blessed Sacrament, kneeling in the cold chapel for hours. Having made a vow of perpetual virginity, she remained unmarried so as to be completely devoted to Christ. Her health continued to deteriorate, in part because of the severe physical penances she inflicted on herself. At the age of 24 in 1680, she died, with her last words being "Jesus, I love you." Like the lily, the flower for which she was named, her life was short but beautiful. In 1980, Pope John Paul II beatified her. She is the first Native American to be declared blessed and her feast is celebrated on July 14. As Bishop Howard Hubbard of Albany, N.Y., puts it, "Kateri stands as a heroic example of how to integrate the mystery of the cross with the mystery of the resurrection in a way that gives honor and glory to God in that it ensures loving service to His people."

Bishop Baraga, servant of God

Our state was blessed by the ministry of Bishop Frederick Baraga, servant of God, whose cause for beatification is now in Rome. Born in 1797 in Slovenia, he ministered throughout the territory of Michigan from the 1830s until the time he was consecrated Bishop of Marquette Nov. 1, 1853. The "Snowshoe Priest" truly loved the Native American people and is known for his dictionary of the Ojibwa (Chippewa) language.

Blessed Kateri and Bishop Baraga, along with countless other names, remind us of the blessing of the faith heritage on which we build. Certainly we face challenges today, but when we look back on their experiences and recall the severe limitations and challenges they faced, our own circumstances pale by comparison.

Studying our history should lead us to gratitude and motivate us to put our own faith into concrete action. We are privileged to stand on the shoulders of great men and women and hopefully we can become role models for the next generation. With these thoughts in mind, our theme for the 175th anniversary is "bridging the generations."

The "mission" continues

Reflecting on our "missionary origins" fills our hearts with joy and gratitude but it should also touch our minds and stretch us to consider how we are building on their foundation and example: our metro area and our world still need missionaries today. In many cases, even though people live in a culture that has many Christian symbols and expressions (such as Christmas and Easter), quite often, they have never really reflected on questions of faith or, even though baptized, have no genuine relationship with Jesus as their Lord. As Fr. Ron Rolheiser, OMI, told us at our recent priests' convocation, in many ways, we need to be "missionaries to our own children," sharing with them the story of faith and what it means in our own life experience.

Genuine missionary activity is always two-way: someone is sent and others receive; both sides of the "equation" are necessary. In the early years of our Church here in North America, we received missionary priests and religious who planted seeds of faith and nurtured them. Early on, these hearty souls came to us from foreign lands such as France, England, Ireland, Spain, Poland and other Eastern European countries. Eventually, our Church grew in strength of numbers and depth of faith to the point that just 100 years ago (1908), the Church in North America was no longer considered by Rome to be a "mission land;" we were removed from the jurisdiction of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith and treated the same as all other churches of the world. We, for our part, soon became missionaries to the peoples of Asia, Africa, and South America.

In the years after Vatican II, Church leaders took to heart in a renewed way our "Catholic" or worldwide reality. Dioceses around the world began to partner with each other in solidarity, sharing priestly resources as well as making financial commitments. A great example of such reciprocity has been our bond with the Diocese of Olinda-Recife, Brazil. Even now, our own seminary offers hospitality to future priests from dioceses of many foreign lands such as Peru, China, Cameroon, and Poland. Many of our religious orders of men and women have ongoing rapport with individuals and communities in foreign lands as well; they continue to live the missionary spirit of their own origins.

At the dawning of the 21st century, the mission experience has taken on a new dimension. While we still occasionally send clergy, religious, or lay missionaries to foreign lands, quite often, we are the receivers of clergy or religious from the very lands our ancestors once evangelized. Right now in our archdiocese, for example, we are blessed to be served by clergy from India and Southeast Asia, many countries of Africa, South America, and Mexico.

The "mission experience" of giving and receiving is truly a cycle, a process that will never end until the Lord returns in glory. The important thing to remember is that as we receive, we must be ready to give, to share with the next generation the faith we were blessed to inherit. As we bridge the generations, let us always keep in our mind and heart "our missionary origins," an enduring reality!

With prayerful best wishes, I remain

Sincerely yours in the Lord,

†Adam Cardinal Maida
Archbishop of Detroit