Home / News & Publications / Michigan Catholic News / 2009 / A dialogue with Archbishop-elect Vigneron
A dialogue with Archbishop-elect Vigneron
by Joe Kohn of The Michigan Catholic
Published online January 5, 2009
Published January 9, 2009
Archbishop transition updates: www.aodonline.org/archbishop
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Bishop Vigneron dedicates Oakland's Cathedral of Christ the Light on September 25, 2008. |
Bishop Allen H. Vigneron, named to the Diocese of Oakland, Calif. in 2003, was appointed Jan. 5 by Pope Benedict XVI to succeed Cardinal Adam Maida as the next archbishop of Detroit. Ordained at St. Clement of Rome Church in Romeo in 1975, and later named an auxiliary bishop in Detroit, Bishop Vigneron will be the first priest of the archdiocese to go on to become its archbishop. Preparing to leave California for his introduction to the priests and people of Detroit, he spoke over the phone with Michigan Catholic staff reporter Joe Kohn.
Here is an edited transcript of the interview:
First of all, congratulations on being named archbishop of Detroit.
Thank you very much.
How did you find out the news?
A few days before Christmas the nuncio called me and told me the Holy Father had appointed me to be the metropolitan archbishop of Detroit.
And, with your history here, how did you feel about that?
My first feeling was great surprise. I had believed all the other rumors I had heard about the likely candidates. I have not been in Oakland a very long time, and I know that there's a great effort to provide continuity, and no priest of the archdiocese (of Detroit) had ever been the archbishop of Detroit before. So, it took me very much by surprise.
When Papal Nuncio Archbishop Pietro Sambi told you of the appointment, did he tell you how the decision was arrived at?
When he told me of the appointment, he didn't give me any details. I know enough about the process that recommendations come from the Congregation for the Bishops and they go to the Holy Father and he makes the final choice. The nuncio didn't give me any details of how that worked in this case.
There are some big differences between Detroit and Oakland, how is being the head shepherd here in Detroit going to be different for you?
I can start with the similarities, because Oakland and Detroit have a couple things in common. Great ethnic diversity, though the mix is quite different, and a very prominent African-American community in both places. I think those are very good points of continuity. Differences, we could start with the climatological. There's no real winter here the way we think about winter (in Detroit). But in terms of the challenges, certainly (in) all of California, there's a very much higher percentage of Latino Catholics, so that will be different. And I would say that traditional religious values are still much more prominent in the Midwest than in California.
What is it that you're going to miss about Oakland?
The people. The wonderful people here. My priests are very good brothers to me, and I have a lot of wonderful laypeople that I've been able to work with.
You family is still in the Detroit area, correct?
Right. Yes.
Have you been a frequent visitor to the area since being named bishop of Oakland?
I try to get back three times a year to see my mom and dad. Usually at Christmas, my summer vacation, and one other time in the year.
How did your parents react when they heard of your appointment?
They're very happy. My mother thinks the Blessed Virgin Mary arranged this precisely for her.
Do you agree with her?
I don't know. It never pays to underestimate the power of prayer.
Where you grew up at Immaculate Conception Parish in Anchorville -- is that still considered home to you?
Yes. My parents still live there, and my family has lived there since about 1840. I'm very proud of that.
I'm sure you have many special homecomings for the weeks ahead, have you planned a trip back to your childhood parish?
No, I haven't made any plans except what Cardinal Maida and I put together for the couple of days I'll be back in Michigan Monday and Tuesday. And of course I'll be coming back for the installation.
As you pray, going into this appointment, what kind of help are you asking of the Lord?
A serene confidence in His own support for me, that I come back to Detroit completely assured this is God's will, and whatever limits and talents I bring to it, I ask Him to use them for whatever His plan is. My prayer is for abandonment to His plan.
What are you looking forward to most about coming back to Detroit as its archbishop?
Being able to, day by day, be of service to people who I know very, very well. And returning to being involved in the lives of people who mean a lot to me.
You're going to be at Sacred Heart Major Seminary when you make the announcement. Having been rector of the seminary, how special is it that you'll be introduced there?
Not only do I think about the years I spent as a professor and rector there, but probably I wind up thinking more and more about the years I spent as a student there -- what it means to come back to being the archbishop and having the announcement made in this place where I really learned to be a priest.
You had represented Cardinal Maida in the archdiocese as an auxiliary bishop, a post to which he ordained you. How does it feel to be named his successor?
I have great admiration for the cardinal, and he always treated me with tremendous support and I'd like to be as generous and as kind a pastor as he is – as I've experienced him being.
Have you had a conversation with him since you found out about your appointment?
We've had a couple of long conversations. We talked about how to plan out the transition.
Has he given you any guidance or advice that you would like to share?
Nothing too explicit. I've always found the cardinal very supportive of my own ministry, and as we've talked about my coming there he's very reassuring and simply expresses to me his confidence that if I simply continue to be the kind of priest I've been, it will all work out for the best.
Cardinal Maida has placed a strong emphasis on being a pastor to his priests. What might the priests in the archdiocese expect from you?
First of all I would say I've always been proud to identify myself as a priest of the Archdiocese of Detroit. For myself, as it ought to be, one of my highest priorities is to build up the presbyterate and to help all of us live up to our ideals of being good priests after the heart of Christ. I'm very aware that there are special challenges right now as priests try to support the people through some tough economic times. I want to do my part to help them give that support to the people.
Do you know, offhand, what some of your priorities are going to be?
I'd like to be briefed on exactly how things stand in the archdiocese right now, and make my decisions on the basis of those kinds of consultations. But, certainly a high priority is helping the priests flourish in their ministry and to move forward the programs in place for the recruitment of seminarians.
As you were a priest and bishop in Detroit, what is it about the people in the Archdiocese of Detroit that make this a special archdiocese?
I think it's a plain-spoken devotion to doing the right thing – just an ordinary, unpretentious goodness.
You're going to go through a media firestorm as you're introduced, and of course an installation. How do you feel about the big days ahead?
Oh, I'm moving into it with a sense of being supported by Christ and I look forward to it as a way to help people know Christ better. That's my job and I'm always happy to have opportunities to present Him to people. It's not about me. It's about putting Christ in front of the people. He's the Church.
As you were an auxiliary bishop here, would you say you got to know the presbyterate pretty well?
Yes, I think I did from that point of service. But before I was an auxiliary bishop there were a couple of decades of being a priest of the archdiocese, so I have that perspective. And there are a lot of younger priests I would know from being their professor and rector at the seminary.
Is there anything about becoming the archbishop that you're looking forward to with any apprehension?
Well, it's a lot of responsibility. I have a lot of responsibility, and I know I have to trust in God as I come to it.
On a lighter note, I can look up information on your biography – but can you tell me something that most people wouldn't know about you?
(Laughing)
Any interests? Hobbies? Do you golf?
No, I don't golf. As a matter of fact it leads many people to wonder if I'm really validly ordained.
I'm sure here, especially, after following Cardinal Maida.
Well, and Cardinal (Edmund) Szoka was a golfer and so was Cardinal (John) Dearden.
And you were ordained by Cardinal Dearden, were you not?
I was ordained a priest by Cardinal Dearden up in Romeo because Bishop (Thomas) Gumbleton couldn't make it that day, so Cardinal Dearden had to fill in for him.
So, not golf -- but do you have any other interesting hobbies or interests?
My hobbies are pretty dull. For my leisure, I like to read either literature or history.
Is there anything more you would want to share with people in the Archdiocese of Detroit about being chosen as their new shepherd?
If I were, it would be to go back and to underscore that it comes as a call from God through the pope, and I accept it with great joy and the confidence that comes from trusting in God and not myself.
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