Contacts & Publisher

Subscription Form

Home  / News & Publications /  Michigan Catholic News / 2009 /  Installation Mass will incorporate a variety of cultures and traditions

by Kristin Lukowski of The Michigan Catholic
Published January 23, 2009

Larry A. Peplin | The Michigan Catholic Cardinal Adam Maida, the ninth bishop and fourth archbishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit, will be succeeded by Archbishop-designate Allen Vigneron on Jan. 28.

Detroit — Whether you attend the installation Mass for Archbishop-designate Allen Vigneron or if you're watching the simulcast, there will be a bit more pageantry and symbolism than at a regular Sunday Mass.

Many aspects of the liturgy are a nod to Church tradition, and others include the many people Archbishop-designate Vigneron will be shepherding. It's not an ordination Mass but an installation Mass, as Archbishop-designate Vigneron is already a bishop. It's scheduled to be Jan. 28 at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament, Detroit.

Daniel McAfee, director of the Office for Christian Worship and the person who is coordinating the liturgical aspects of Archbishop-designate Vigneron's installation into the Archdiocese of Detroit, provided information on what those at the cathedral, or those watching, will see.

The priests of the archdiocese will process into the worship space before the Mass begins. Other bishops and cardinals will also likely be in attendance.

Before the beginning of the liturgy, Archbishop-designate Vigneron will go to the outside door of the cathedral and knock on it, probably with a silver hammer. Cardinal Adam Maida will open the door from the inside to welcome him into the cathedral. With the announcement of the new archbishop, the cardinal's resignation was accepted by Pope Benedict XVI, and in the interim he serves as apostolic administrator.

The Apostolic Letter of Appointment, the official letter from the Vatican appointing Archbishop-designate Vigneron to the position of archbishop of Detroit, will then be shown to the College of Consultors, a group of archdiocesan priests who serve as advisors to the archbishop, and read aloud. Then, Cardinal Maida and Archbishop-designate Vigneron will process to the altar together. Archbishop-designate Vigneron will then be led to the bishop's chair, the cathedra, and be given a miter (the bishop's hat), and crosier (the bishop's staff). Although Archbishop-designate Vigneron already has these adornments as bishop of Oakland, he receives them in the new diocese to symbolize taking on the role of main shepherd; in fact, he'll be using the crosier given to him by his family when he was first made a bishop.

As Archbishop-designate Vigneron sits in the cathedra, he becomes the archbishop, and from that moment Cardinal Maida will not sit there again. Representatives of the archdiocese will then come up to introduce themselves to the new archbishop; McAfee was expecting representatives such as an older priest, a young priest, different groups within the diocese, such as youths, different cultures, "representing all facets of the diocese," he said.

After that, Mass goes on in the usual way, with the new archbishop taking over as principal celebrant of the Mass. Cardinal Maida won't concelebrate, McAfee explained, but will be in attendance with any other cardinals present. Also during the installation Mass, the new archbishop addresses his flock for the first time as their chief shepherd, during the homily. Also during the installation Mass, McAfee said, people of different cultures and ethnic groups will read aloud the prayers of the faithful. Petitions are planned to be read in French, Vietnamese, Polish, Tagalog and Spanish, as well as by a member of the African-American community.

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