Contacts & Publisher

Subscription Form

Home  / News & Publications /  Michigan Catholic News / 2009 /  Local Catholic officials applaud Bishop Vigneron's appointment as new archbishop

by Robert Delaney of The Michigan Catholic
Published January 16, 2009

Fr. Complo

Detroit — Fr. Dan Complo's early memories of Archbishop-designate Allen Vigneron are of the young priest who was assigned to work for him at his parish in Harper Woods back in 1975.

"When Allen was ordained, he came to Our Lady Queen of Peace, where I was pastor," recalls Fr. Complo, now a senior priest living in Monroe.

"He was a very dedicated priest, and an excellent speaker, and gave great homilies. It was really wonderful being able to work with him," Fr. Complo continued.

Fr. Complo predicted that his former associate pastor will make an excellent archbishop of Detroit: "He's pastoral and very intelligent. And he has a very, very kind heart, and really cares about people."

The appointment by Pope Benedict XVI of Bishop Vigneron of Oakland, Calif., to succeed Cardinal Adam Maida as the next archbishop of Detroit was announced Jan. 5. When he is installed Jan. 28, he will be the first former priest of the diocese/archdiocese to return as its ordinary. He will also be its 10th bishop and fifth archbishop.

He will also succeed Cardinal Maida as chairman of the Michigan Catholic Conference, the public policy voice of all seven Michigan dioceses. "It is with open arms and prayerful greetings that we welcome Archbishop-elect Vigneron to the Michigan Catholic Conference," said Sr. Monica Kostielney, RSM, MCC president and chief executive officer.

"This is a jubilant transitional period for the Conference and I can think of no better person than Archbishop-elect Vigneron to lead the organization in its mission to serve and to develop and promote sound public policy for the State of Michigan," she added.

Those who worked with Archbishop-designate Vigneron during his years at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, where he served on the faculty and then as rector from 1994-2003, have fond memories and express confidence in his ability to lead the archdiocese.

Fr. Steven Boguslawski, OP, who was the seminary's dean of studies and then succeded him as rector when he left to become bishop of Oakland, in 2003, called him "one of the most remarkable and intelligent priests I've ever known."

But for all of his intellect, Archbishop-designate Vigneron "also has the virtue of humility," continued Fr. Boguslawski, who left Detroit in 2006 to become president of the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., and also serves as executive director of the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center.

"It's a brilliant appointment on the part of the Holy Father. He was rector of what I consider to be the best seminary in the country at this point, especially with regard to the New Evangelization, and I believe he'll be an excellent teacher for the archdiocese."

Bishop Robert Morlino of Madison, Wis., who was on the seminary faculty during Archbishop-designate Vigneron's rectorship, said, "He is as holy and prayerful a bishop as I know, and any diocese would be blessed to have him as their shepherd."

Bishop Morlino said that, although Detroit's next archbishop willingly accepted the Holy Father's appointment of him to head the Oakland Diocese, he believes his heart is in his home diocese and that it must be "a particular joy to be coming home."

And he added that Archbishop-designate Vigneron's history as seminary rector should be a great gift to the archdiocese, "because of the special relationship he has with the priests who studied under him and have a unique devotion and affection for him."

Rennie

Patricia Rennie, dean of the Institute for Ministry at SHMS, noted that hiring her was one of Archbishop-designate Vigneron's first decisions when he became the seminary's rector.

She said he "was not only a leader at SHMS; but as a son of Sacred Heart, he had been formed in the virtues that we attribute to the heart of Jesus."

As he now prepares to become archbishop of Detroit, Rennie said she prays that he may be "blessed with the openness of Jesus as he addresses the many challenges he will encounter."

"Just as Jesus knew sorrow, so too will Bishop Vigneron share in the sorrows that the people of Detroit and southeast Michigan are experiencing. May this sorrow be tempered by an abiding trust in God's providence, just as the heart of Jesus trusted in the Father's love," she added.

Bishop Alexander K. Sample of Marquette, said, "I can honestly say that I could not be more delighted with the appointment of Archbishop Vigneron as the next archbishop of Detroit. I have known him for many years and have always admired his wisdom and steady leadership. As bishop of Marquette, which is part of the province of the metropolitan see of Detroit, I look forward to working with Archbishop Vigneron for the good of the Church in Michigan."

One of Bishop Sample's priests who was a student at SHMS during Archbishop-designate's time as rector also has high praise for him.

"I can't say enough about him. He was such a wonderful rector. I just remember how much he cared about us, and his intelligence, his wisdom and his pastoral sense, said Fr. Gary Litzner, pastor of Precious Blood Parish in Stephenson. "He even visited me once when I was home for a family visit and he had business in the U.P. He really impressed my mom," Fr. Litzner added.

Closer to home, Fr. Jeff Day, pastor of St. Sebastian Parish in Dearborn, also was impressed by the man who was once his seminary rector.

"I'm really delighted, because I believe he is very pastoral and a good listener. He made himself available and would really listen, taking a keen interest in what people say. Those are qualities I think people will come to appreciate," Fr. Day said.

"He really is a holy man and a man of prayer. I believe he is someone who tries very hard to grow in his relationship with Christ," he added.

Fr. Clint McDonnell's time at SHMS just began during Archbishop-designate Vigneron's last year there, but that was long enough to have left a good impression.

"I was delighted he has returned. I well remember his rector's conferences with us every Thursday," he said. Fr. McDonnell, now associate pastor at Divine Child Parish in Dearborn, said the new archbishop "is very fondly remembered by all the seminarians who were there during his time at the seminary as being very affable, very approachable."

Bauer

While he was a SHMS professor, then-Fr. Vigneron also reached out to people outside the seminary, as Dr. Ray Bauer, a member of St. Paul on the Lake Parish in Grosse Pointe Farms, recalled.

"I've known him going back to when I was in medical school at Wayne State back in 1989-93, and he led a prayer group for medical students, and we have maintained a friendship ever since," Bauer says.

He said he believes Archbishop-designate Vigneron will make a great archbishop of Detroit: "He has a purity and prayerfulness about him that borders on angelic. He loves the truth, which means he loves Christ, and his homecoming is certainly cause for great hope and joy."

• Archbishop transition updates: www.aodonline.org/archbishop