Archbishop Vigneron reflects on 20 years as a bishop of the Catholic Church

Detroit — What’s the biggest difference between Fr. Allen Vigneron, rector of Sacred Heart Major Seminary in 1996, and Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron, leader of the Archdiocese of Detroit?

“I’m a lot smarter,” Archbishop Vigneron joked, sitting in the second floor of the seminary where he was rector from 1994 to 2003, being interviewed by The Michigan Catholic for the 20th anniversary of his being raised to the rank of bishop by St. John Paul II.

Archbishop Vigneron recalled the conversation he had with Cardinal Adam J. Maida at the cardinal’s residency at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament, asking whether he would accept the position of auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit.

“He presented this news to me and asked if I would accept, because these appointments aren’t automatic,” Archbishop Vigneron said. “The Holy Father makes an appointment, then it falls to the priest to agree or turn it down. I told him I would accept, after being very surprised.”

Archbishop Vigneron talked to the apostolic nuncio in Washington, D.C., right after Cardinal Maida delivered the nuncio the news, forever changing Fr. Allen’s service to the Lord.

“I did not expect that one day God would make me a bishop,” Archbishop Vigneron said. “I became a priest of the Archdiocese of Detroit to put myself at the service of God’s people here, doing whatever the bishop asked me to do.”

Newly appointed Bishop Vigneron stayed on as rector of the seminary in addition to being an auxiliary bishop, tasked with managing the Northeast region of the archdiocese.

Then, in 2003, the Mount Clemens native and Sacred Heart Major Seminary alum was sent out west as the newest bishop of the Diocese of Oakland, Calif.

“Really, I didn’t think about (the changes) with becoming a bishop when I became an auxiliary bishop,” Archbishop Vigneron said. “But the idea of giving myself over to the authority of the Church became very clear to me in 2003 when the nuncio called and said the Holy Father is calling you to California. That was a great surprise to me.

“I certainly never thought about being on a mission to California. But part of being a bishop is giving up that kind of control.”

Bishops are considered the direct successors to the apostles, the men hand-picked by Jesus Christ to establish His Church on Earth. Archbishop Vigneron said the thought of being a direct successor to the apostles is an honor, terrifying and humbling all at the same time.

“It’s certainly intimidating; the responsibility is so significant to be in this line of continuing the work of Christ and passing along the revelation,” Archbishop Vigneron said. “But it’s a comfort because, especially when you look at Peter, but all the apostles, all the apostles fled from Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane.

“You hear of times when Jesus reprimanded the apostles. The Gospel talks about their shortcomings, so this is a certain comfort in knowing the apostles have never been all-stars, so I don’t have to be an all-star either,” the archbishop said.

When Archbishop Vigneron finished his studies at the seminary and was ordained a priest, Cardinal John Dearden sent him to the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome to study philosophy, after which he expected to teach at the seminary before becoming a parish priest.

Instead, the Lord planned for him to become a bishop, and eventually the archbishop of Detroit, a completely different kind of ministry compared to being a parish pastor.

“It’s the field of my service that’s much larger,” Archbishop Vigneron explained. “I don’t get to be so particularly involved in the life of parishioners, though I do have some people with whom I’m much more personally engaged. I would say the personal engagement that falls to me as a bishop most commonly falls on my priests. I have the responsibility to be a good pastor to my priests. And that I think is very particular to the life of a bishop.”

Whenever the archbishop visits a parish or school for an anniversary — which he told the congregation at the priest jubilee celebration Mass at the seminary June 28 happens “once or twice every month” — he thinks of himself as a “spiritual coach.” Archbishop Vigneron said he finds his own coaching influences in the teachers and pastors he encountered over his 41 years as a priest.

“Msgr. Bill Schurzer was a great influence on my life as a seminarian,” Archbishop Vigneron said. “As a priest, I was influenced by my first pastor, Fr. Dan Complo, who was a good example to me and helped me get a good start in the priesthood. I was very much influenced by Fr. Robert Sokolowski at the Catholic University (in Washington, D.C.); he was my doctoral dissertation director. He taught me it wasn’t just about scholarship, but seeing the tradition of wisdom in the life of the Church having practical implications.”

But back to the original question — what is the biggest difference between Fr. Allen and Archbishop Vigneron? The answer is simple: maturity.

“I would not put it as some kind of big gap between 1995 and 1996,” Archbishop Vigneron said. “But as I look back on my life, I’m going to be 41 years a priest. I think I have grown in my skills as a pastor. Growing in maturity, about how to make decisions.

“What’s the difference between Fr. Allen 20 years ago and Bishop Vigneron today? I’d say it’s growing in my maturity and my confidence in the power of God.”