Clergy, religious and laity alike taken aback by liturgy's beauty, hopeful for the future under Archbishop Weisenburger's care
DETROIT — Archbishop Edward J. Weisenburger stood outside the front door of the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament, waiting to be let in, gavel in hand.
It was the first of many signs that the day’s liturgy wasn’t going to be run-of-the-mill, as Detroit’s faithful gave witness to Archbishop Weisenburger taking his cathedra for the first time on March 18, becoming Detroit’s sixth archbishop.
It was a liturgy filled with pomp and ceremony: hymns harkening back to Charlemagne, a message read aloud from the Supreme Pontiff and culminating with Archbishop Weisenburger taking his seat as a successor to the apostles, the spiritual head of God’s people in southeast Michigan.
Christopher Kolomjec, supreme director of the Knights of Columbus, felt the day was nothing less than regal.
“I thought it was very majestic, for lack of a better word,” Kolomjec told Detroit Catholic. “It was very dignified and beautiful. And to see the whole community come together and all the different organizations, all the different kinds of religious groups, and people in the metropolitan Detroit area welcome the new archbishop was quite a scene and very beautiful.”
The Knights of Columbus, along with the Knights and Dames of the Order of Malta and the Knights and Dames of St. Peter Claver, added to the ceremony of the Mass, forming an honor guard for Archbishop Weisenburger — who is a member of the Knights of Columbus — as he processed down the nave of his cathedral for the first time.
Horst Buchholz, Ph.D., and the archdiocesan choir belted out the hymn of praise, “Laudate, Laudate Dominium,” to begin the liturgy.
Indeed, many congregants turned back to the choir loft to admire the music coming from the back of the church as the choir sang in English, Latin, Spanish, French, German and Polish.
Sr. Mary Ann Spanjers, OSF, a Franciscan Sister of Christian Charity, worked with Archbishop Weisenburger for 10 years in the Diocese of Tucson and was impressed with the planning behind the Mass.
“I felt the beauty,” Sr. Spanjers said. “The presence of the Kingdom of God was present during the Mass, the kingdom on earth and heaven was united, and it’s wonderful to come together as a church to celebrate.”
Archbishop Weisenburger chose the Gospel reading from St. John, which chronicles the dialogue between Jesus and Peter after the resurrection. In it, Jesus asks St. Peter thrice, “Do you love me?”
Sr. Spanjers said the Gospel selection and Archbishop Weisenburger’s comments on the Gospel perfectly summarize his spirituality.
“We are called to be in love with the Lord, and he is constantly calling us to love,” Sr. Spanjers said. "I just thought the Gospel of Jesus asking Peter, ‘Do you love me?’ was a wonderful way for us as a church to remember how important it is that we’re rooted together in His love.”
Stephen Netter, a Sacred Heart Major Seminary pre-philosophy seminarian studying for the Archdiocese of Detroit, also commended the new archbishop’s Gospel selection and homily, particularly Archbishop Weisenburger’s explanation of how Jesus wanted Peter to progress from a philia love of Jesus — brotherly love — to an agape love of Jesus — divine love.
“I particularly like that passage because I heard about, you know, the translation and to really understand the depth of what ‘Do you love me?’ actually means,” Netter said. “I was happy to hear him elaborate on that because for me that was really moving.”
Netter met Archbishop Weisenburger, as did all seminarians for the Archdiocese of Detroit, greeting the person for whom, God-willing, they will take a pledge obedience on the day of their ordination.
“He met each of us individually and asked us our names, so he took the time and made an effort, which shows the care he has for us as seminarians,” Netter said. “I got a very good impression, and you know he really has that care for his people as well as his seminarians.”
Bishop Robert J. McClory of Gary, Ind., who used to serve as the moderator of the curia in the Archdiocese of Detroit and as archdiocesan chancellor, said the moment Archbishop Weisenburger first took his seat at the cathedra was particularly powerful, both as a bishop of his own diocese and a native son of Detroit whose parents still live in the Archdiocese of Detroit.
“I always find it moving when they actually have the new archbishop go to his chair, which is the symbol of leadership and teaching and governance in the diocese,” Bishop McClory said. “That makes it very real because at Mass, the only one who sits there is the bishop, the archbishop, and so to see the nuncio, Cardinal (Christophe) Pierre, and Archbishop (Allen H.) Vigneron walk him over and him sit in the chair, it was very moving to me.”
Bishop McClory said it was very poignant that Archbishop Weisenburger chose a Gospel passage where Peter, the principal bishop chosen by Christ, spoke of his unworthiness and humility, as well as his profession of the love of the Lord.
As Archbishop Weisenburger gets to know the people of Detroit, he, too, will find people who love the Lord, he said.
“I think the people in southeast Michigan have a real authenticity to them,” Bishop McClory said. “We are hardworking, compassionate and have seen the ups and downs of economies that have flourished and then struggled. And in the midst of it, we’ve been very loving and kind, so I think Archbishop Weisenburger will find a very warm, loving atmosphere. My family is still there, so I know we’re all excited about his leadership.”
Following a vespers service the night before the installation, Luci Larson, a travel agent from the Diocese of Salina, Kansas, where Archbishop Weisenburger served from 2012-17, said Detroit is getting an approachable, humble shepherd who will care deeply for the people of God in southeast Michigan.
Larson said people in Salina and Tucson were "heartbroken" to lose him, but added "our loss is definitely Detroit's gain."
“He’s personable, he’s funny, and he’s down to earth, but most of all, he is a shepherd,” Larson said. "When he left Salina, we said long farewells, shed some tears, and said we'd stay in touch, and I knew he would. You are going to love him."
