Detroit – Archbishop Allen Vigneron, in praise of Pope Benedict XVI’s appointments of two auxiliary bishops for the Archdiocese of Detroit, said Bishop-designates Donald Hanchon and Michael Byrnes are “among the very best priests of the archdiocese, and I’m sure they’ll do a great job.”

The Vatican made the announcement Tuesday morning that the two local priests would be ordained bishops.

Bishop-designate Hanchon, 63, has been pastor of Holy Redeemer Parish in southwest Detroit since 1999, and since 2009 has assisted Archbishop Vigneron in the administration of parishes in the Central Region of the archdiocese, and with confirmations. Bishop-designate Byrnes, 52, has been serving since 2004 as vice rector of Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit and pastor of Presentation/Our Lady of Victory Parish in Detroit, where Deacon Hubert Sanders is the deacon administrator.

Auxiliary bishops are meant to help the archbishop in pastoral duties, similarly to how an associate pastor at a parish aids the pastor, Archbishop Vigneron said.

He praised the two men and acknowledged that, coming from different paths and different generations, they both bring unique gifts to the local Church.

“Msgr. Hanchon is an exemplary pastor, and he’s been a leader for the ministry in the city of Detroit both in the African American community and in the Hispanic community, and he’s very highly respected by all of the priests” the archbishop said. “He’s always been in solidarity with people on the margins.”

In regards to Bishop-designate Byrnes, Archbishop Vigneron said he “is a man of outstanding character.”

“He brings his specialized studies on sacred Scripture, that theological knowledge, to his ministry,” the archbishop added. “In the seminary, he’s shown a great talent for cultivating leadership in our future priests, and I think he’ll be a great brotherly assistant to the priests of the diocese, helping them maximize their potential for leadership.”

The new bishops will be ordained on May 5 at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit. Bishop-designate Hanchon will continue as administrator of the archdiocese’s Central Region, and as of July Bishop-designate Byrnes will assume administration of the Northeast Region.

Bishop-designate Hanchon

Bishop-designate Hanchon, who was ordained a priest in 1974, said he was working in his parish office when he received the phone call from Papal Nuncio Archbishop Pietro Sambi – the papal ambassador to the U.S. Church – and told of his assignment.

“I’ve said ‘yes’ to anything I was ever asked to do – but this just seems huge,” Bishop-designate Hanchon said. “What God asks us to do, he gives us the strength to do, so I have a lot of trust in that.”

Bishop-designate Hanchon said that when he was a younger priest, the idea of becoming a bishop someday appealed to him. But over the years, he said he’d realized how much of a burden bishops carry, and he’d also realized how much he loved parish ministry.

Still, he said, he sees the Holy Father’s request of him to become a bishop as a way that Jesus is asking him to progress in his ministry.

“If Jesus is speaking to me through the Holy Father, of course I’d say ‘yes,’” he said.

Of special note in Bishop-designate Hanchon’s ministry has been his outreach to people in Detroit’s urban settings, specifically the African American and the Hispanic populations.

In 1986 and 87, Bishop-designate Hanchon spent several months in Mexico and Texas, learning the Spanish language and about the culture.

Ever since, he’s been ministering in Hispanic parishes locally, of which Holy Redeemer is the largest.

“There’s no doubt (ministry at Holy Redeemer) shaped me,” the bishop-designate said. “The present and the future of the Church is with this big wave of immigration and with their children. I’m blessed to have been able to have this experience, and I’m sure it’s going to open other opportunities up as bishop.”

He added that he had advocated with Cardinal Adam Maida for Detroit to have an Hispanic auxiliary bishop, and was excited to have had Bishop Daniel Flores serve in that role from 2006 through 2009. Although Bishop-designate Hanchon has ministered in the Hispanic community, he said he still sees a need for a bishop of Hispanic descent.

“I’m going to still advocate that we get another auxiliary,” he said. “We’re still short one.”

Currently, Bishop-designate Hanchon says a primary concern of his is that Holy Redeemer is cared for pastorally. While he will eventually be relieved of his responsibilities as pastor of the parish, he’ll continue as pastor until a successor is named.

In terms of Detroit auxiliary bishops, Bishop-designate Hanchon said he recalls the leadership given by Bishop Walter J. Schoenherr in that role and sees him as “a model of what a bishop should be.” Bishop Scheonherr was ordained a bishop in 1968 and passed away in 2007.

Bishop-designate Byrnes

When Bishop-designate Byrnes received the call from Archbishop Sambi, he was in evening prayer with the seminarians. He learned about his appointment through the voicemail message.

“I don’t know how to describe the feeling,” Bishop-designate Byrnes said. “I was shocked.”

He said he never imagined his path in the priesthood would include being a bishop.

“I thought I’d be at the seminary for several more years, then have a parish and retire from parish work,” he said.

In the time that followed the phone call, though, he says he's thought a lot about the vows he made first as a deacon and then as a priest. Though it’s a huge step, he sees becoming a bishop as something similar in nature.

“It’s not my life anymore, it’s (God’s), and it belongs to the Church in a particular way,” Bishop-designate Byrnes said. “This is another experience of having that impressed more deeply on my soul.”

Unlike Bishop-designate Hanchon, his path to the priesthood was roundabout. Though he was inspired at a young age to become a priest by an older relative – Fr. Remy McCoy, a Missionary of Africa -- he attended the University of Michigan and earned a bachelor’s degree in microbiology before becoming heavily involved in campus ministry and the Charismatic Renewal. A decade after graduating college, he entered Sacred Heart Major Seminary and was ordained in 1996, at the age of 37.

After a few years as an associate pastor and teaching, he attended the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, earning his Doctorate in Sacred Theology. Shortly after returning, he took on his current roles as vice rector of the seminary and pastor of Presentation/Our Lady of Victory.

Among the greatest blessings of his ministry, he said, has been watching others – whether it be seminarians or parishioners – come to know what God is calling them to.

“I love seeing the seminarians become clear about the call to priesthood… watching them grow up as men and seeing them become clearer about their relationship with Christ and what Christ is asking them to do,” he said. “Similarly, in the parish – seeing people grow deeper in their walk with the Lord, and confront the day to day. Helping them do that is really fulfilling.”

Asked what he thinks others should know about their new auxiliary bishop, Bishop-designate Byrnes said he loves being a priest and “I tend to think things are possible. I like to pursue big goals, and I tend to think more about what’s possible for people, not what’s holding them back.”

Seminarians who know him likely would attest to that. The bishop-designate is known for his athleticism, participating regularly in marathons.  Several dozen of them heeded Bishop-designate Byrnes’s encouragement and participated in the Detroit Marathon last fall.