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Home / News & Publications / News Releases / Incident at Holy Redeemer
Clarification on incident at Holy Redeemer Parish
Issued:April 23, 2009
On Sunday, April 19, a political advocacy group which calls itself "Latinos Unidos" came to Holy Redeemer Parish in southwest Detroit to promote an upcoming event they plan to stage. When members of the group came into the church building to pass out a promotional flyer, a member of the parish staff told them that the pastor, Monsignor Donald Hanchon, remained firm in his previously stated position that the parish would not support their cause, and that the parish campus cannot and should not be a location for them to distribute materials. The staff person informed them they had to leave immediately and showed them to the door.
As the group resisted the direction, group members launched into a volley of insults and taunts. At one point, the staff person touched the arm of one of the agitators asking him to please move along and to lead the group off of parish property.
It appears one of the members of the group has filed a report with the Detroit Police Department making a claim of assault against Msgr. Hanchon. Nothing that happened during this incident resembles such an allegation in any way, shape or form.
Parish leadership and the Detroit archdiocese are confident this matter will be resolved and dismissed. Regrettably however, it appears the police report has been shared with local media outlets, some of which have repeated the allegation with little or no effort of corroboration.
Msgr. Hanchon is available and agreeable to speak with any bona fide news organization about this.
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