More than 10,000 engage in first-ever livestream broadcast highlighting how Catholic Services Appeal makes a difference in southeast Michigan

During September and October, Detroit Catholic is asking readers to prayerfully consider a gift to the Catholic Services Appeal, which funds more than 170 ministries vital to the Church in southeast Michigan, including this publication. Visit www.givecsa.org to support the mission by making a gift today. We are grateful for your generosity and prayers.

DETROIT — Catholics in the Archdiocese of Detroit might be familiar with the Catholic Services Appeal, the annual effort to raise support for the local Church’s many vital ministries.

But until Sept. 24, many were unaware of just how the CSA funds so many good works throughout southeast Michigan.

To pledge your support for the mission of the Archdiocese of Detroit, visit www.aodgivingday.org. 

In a year saddled with challenges from the global COVID-19 pandemic, the Church once again turned to technology to share a message of hope, inspiration and celebration through the archdiocese’s first-ever “Giving Day” livestream event.

More than 10,000 engaged in the online broadcast Thursday night, as hosts Fr. Mario Amore and Mary Wilkerson introduced viewers to dozens of ministries, services and volunteers whose daily work impacts the lives of countless in southeast Michigan.

Fr. Amore, pastor of St. Aloysius and Our Lady of the Rosary parishes in Detroit, and Wilkerson, co-host of the “Eyes on Jesus” podcast with Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron, interviewed guests from several key ministries — vocations, Catholic schools, Christian services, Black Catholic ministries, Hispanic ministries, youth and family ministries, and communications — sprinkled with choir performances, inspirational videos, and even a “virtual tour” of the Basilica of Ste. Anne.

“I’d like to start by giving thanks to everyone joining us this evening,” said Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron, kicking off the evening in prayer. “We’re very grateful for your support on this first-ever Giving Day. This is about recognizing the ministries you support through the Catholic Services Appeal, celebrating those ministries, and finding new inspiration in the work we do together to share the Gospel.”

The CSA supports more than 170 ministries that reach Catholics and non-Catholics of all walks of life, the archbishop noted, from soup kitchens and food pantries to evangelization and education efforts.

There are about 3 million people in southeast Michigan, all of whom deserve to hear the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ, the archbishop said. 

“We do these works in order to be co-workers with Christ in the great task of evangelization,” Archbishop Vigneron said. “That’s why these works are so important and worth celebrating and recognizing and giving thanks for tonight. Above all, they’re important to the heart of Christ.”

Vocations

The first guests of the evening were two of the archdiocese’s most recently ordained priests, Fr. Andrew Mabee and Fr. David Pellican, who offered insight into how their vocations were shaped with the help of the Office of Priestly Vocations.

The office, which sponsors outreach and prayer services for young men considering a vocation to the priesthood, helped both men realize God’s calling early in life. 

Fr. Mabee, who didn’t grow up Catholic, said his participation in a discernment weekend at Sacred Heart Major Seminary was a pivotal experience in his own young vocation. 

“For me, one word that describes the priesthood so far is adventure,” Fr. Pellican said. “It’s not anything I could have expected or even prepared for. But it’s been an incredible blessing to bring Christ to others and to see his love and mercy at work.”

“A discernment weekend is an experience where you come and live at the seminary for a weekend and participate in life with the seminarians, meeting them, going to classes with them, praying with them,” Fr. Mabee, 33, who was ordained June 8 and now serves as associate pastor of St. John Fisher Chapel University Parish in Auburn Hills. “That was super helpful, because it gives you a taste of what the seminary might be like.”

Fr. Pellican, 26, who was ordained June 6 and is serving as associate pastor of Divine Child Parish in Dearborn, said his experience as a priest has been shaped by a sense of God’s providence.

“For me, one word that describes the priesthood so far is adventure,” Fr. Pellican said. “It’s not anything I could have expected or even prepared for. But it’s been an incredible blessing to bring Christ to others and to see his love and mercy at work.”

As priests, Fr. Pellican added it’s important to inspire young people with a vision of the priesthood that’s consistent with such a noble calling.

“As priests, it’s important to show kids what a joyful life this is,” Fr. Pellican said. “We shouldn’t downplay the heroism and the sacrifice that a vocation to the priesthood entails.”

Black Catholic Ministries

A soul-stirring performance of “Order My Steps” by the Gospel Choir of St. Augustine and St. Monica Parish in Detroit kicked off the evening’s next segment, highlighting the work of the archdiocese’s Office of Black Catholic Ministries.

The hosts interviewed Curtis Simpson, Christian service coordinator at Corpus Christi Parish in northwest Detroit, and Vicki Figueroa, coordinator of the Office of Cultural Ministries, which includes Black Catholic Ministries.

“I have a lot of experience with the Office of Black Catholic Ministries. They have supported our ministry, the people in our neighborhood, but they’re always taking it one step further. They’ve been involved in our community, not just with Black Catholics, but with Catholics all around the globe and connecting people together. That’s the message we need to be preaching to everybody, especially in our political climate right now: the message of togetherness and unity.”

“We’ve bridged the relationship between getting our young people active throughout the summer, but also giving them some hope, preaching and planting seeds to try to raise the next generation of saints,” Simpson said.

For the past 22 years, Corpus Christi has hosted a summer camp that reaches out to neighborhood youths, inviting young people to find something greater than themselves.

“It started very small, but now it’s a 501(c)3 nonprofit,” Simpson said. “We’ve bridged the relationship between getting our young people active throughout the summer, but also giving them some hope, preaching and planting seeds to try to raise the next generation of saints.”

Figueroa, a parishioner of Corpus Christi, has spent about half of her 11 months as director of the Office of Cultural Ministries responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We had to develop a social ministry, developing online retreats and keeping the African-American community together, because we are a people of togetherness, a people of family,” said Figueroa, who was joined on the segment by Fr. John McKenzie, associate pastor of the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak.

“It’s been good, because it’s helped to bridge the divide between city and suburbs, and it’s really expanded and opened new ways to minister to people, and given people a new voice to speak and learn about their Catholicism,” Figueroa said.

Catholic Schools

Kevin Kijewski, superintendent of Catholic schools for the Archdiocese of Detroit, joined the hosts for the third segment, which focused on how Catholic schools play a critical role in the Church’s mission.

Kijewski spoke about the work that went into preparing the archdiocese’s 86 schools and 27,000 students for a fall semester of in-person learning after the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“To make sure we were able to open on time and to open safely took a lot of work from a lot different people,” Kijewski said, referencing the work of the archdiocese’s return-to-school task force, which spent the summer developing guidelines and safety standards among multiple contingencies. “Our office was blessed to coordinate that effort.”

“Our goal is to create saints for life in this world and the next,” Kijewski said. “It’s not just about getting that ‘A.’ When they get to St. Peter’s gates, we want to make sure they get a passing grade there, too.”  

“When it comes to academic excellence, being proudly Catholic, accessible to all and sustainable for the future, we have to absolute privilege to make sure that becomes the reality for every single child in the Catholic school system,” he added.

Kijewski said his office takes seriously its role not just to prepare students for life and careers, but for the afterlife, too.

“Our goal is to create saints for life in this world and the next,” Kijewski said. “It’s not just about getting that ‘A.’ When they get to St. Peter’s gates, we want to make sure they get a passing grade there, too.”  

Catholic schools are “inextricably linked” to the mission of the archdiocese’s parishes, Kijewski added.

“You’re six times more likely to consider a vocation to the priesthood if you went to a Catholic school versus a public or a charter school,” Kijewski said. “And if you went to a Catholic school, you’re seven times more likely to practice your faith as an adult. That’s why our Catholic schools are so important, and it’s terribly important that all our Catholic parishes support our 86 Catholic schools.”

Maria Vena, a senior at Divine Child High School in Dearborn, said growing up in a Catholic school system has “greatly” shaped her faith.

“I can’t even express the difference,” Vena said. “My older sister went to a public school, and our experiences were very different. Growing up in a fundamentally faithful community, having theology and people surrounding you reassuring that faith community, it’s really important growing up as a young, impressionable kid.”

Youth and Family Ministries

To talk about how the local Church supports marriages and families, David Grobbel, marriage support team leader for the archdiocese’s Office of Evangelization and Missionary Discipleship, spoke about the office’s role in strengthening couples’ bonds and understanding of the sacrament.

“We're always looking at ways we can support marriages and couples in their vocation,” Grobbel said. 

That goes beyond simple marriage prep, but also includes courses, resources and mentoring to help couples facing challenges to navigate them, keeping the focus on Christ’s call to the marriage vocation.

“Couples come from all different stages of their marriage,” Michael Barczak said. “We follow a seven-step process, and the process seems to work. The Holy Spirit is working in it. ... Some couples even ask to continue to meet with us after the sessions are over, and we do that.”

Oftentimes, couples need more than just the simple “pre-Cana” formation of the past, Grobbel said. 

“To fill that gap, we came up with the idea for a marriage coaching ministry,” Grobbel said. “For about two years, we’ve had a really fruitful ministry where couples, at no cost, can work with a mentor coaching couple who will walk beside them. We have the CSA to thank for that.”

Michael and Sue Barczak, one of the coaching couples from St. Regis Parish in Bloomfield Hills, joined Grobbel to talk about the ministry’s fruits.

“Couples come from all different stages of their marriage,” Michael Barczak said. “We follow a seven-step process, and the process seems to work. The Holy Spirit is working in it. Some couples are prayerful people, but were still in the ‘he’ and ‘she’ stage, and not in the ‘we’ stage. Some couples even ask to continue to meet with us after the sessions are over, and we still do that.”

Laura Piccone-Hanchon, a longtime youth minister and youth ministry team leader for the Archdiocese of Detroit, also joined the broadcast to talk about the Church’s outreach to young people.

“Research has shown that young people desire really strong relationships,” Piccone-Hanchon said. “They want to have a sense of belonging. They want to be able to develop strong, authentic relationships.”

The Office of Youth Ministry works with youth ministers across the archdiocese to support training, programming and leadership to help parishes start or continue vibrant youth ministry programs, Piccone-Hanchon said.

It’s often said that the Church ministers to young people as the “Church of tomorrow,” but for Laura Piccone-Hanchon, that approach can be flawed if they aren’t also seen as the “Church of today.” “There are so many ministry opportunities for service, leadership and catechesis,” Piccone-Hanchon said. “This can also bring the families along the path of discipleship along with the teenager.”

Hispanic Ministries 

After a breathtaking “virtual tour” of the archdiocese’s newest basilica, the Basilica of Ste. Anne in southwest Detroit, the hosts interviewed Antonio Guzman, director of the archdiocese’s Office of Hispanic Ministries.

The basilica, home to one of the largest Hispanic Catholic communities in southeast Michigan, directly benefits from the work of the Hispanic Ministries office, said Guzman.

Local Hispanic communities participated recently in the V Encuentro process, a nationwide effort that “seeks to better respond to the Hispanic and Latino presence in the Church in the United States,” Guzman said. “It’s strengthened the ways in which Hispanics and Latinos respond to the call of the new evangelization as missionary disciples serving the entire Church.”

“Our community is mainly between the ages of 20 and 35,” Guzman said. “We have a young community that is growing in our archdiocese. Little by little, I’ve seen how Hispanics have been growing, and it’s going to continue growing. It’s estimated that by 2054, the young adults will be the ones leading the Hispanic community.”

While the pandemic has changed some of the ways in which the Office of Hispanic Ministries has responded this year, the office normally coordinates the annual Hispanic Men’s, Women’s and Youth conferences, which bring together hundreds of Latinos to learn, grow and share their faith.

“We also do the celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe every December,” Guzman said, a huge cultural celebration of great importance to the Hispanic community.

The pandemic has created challenges, but Guzman said technology has allowed for closer communication between the Office of Hispanic Ministries and the youth groups, parish educators and ministers it serves.

“We have been using Zoom to keep connected with our people, our community,” Guzman said.

More than 20 parishes in the Archdiocese of Detroit have an active Hispanic ministry, and the Office of Hispanic Ministries works with them to provide resources, guidance and support.

“Our community is mainly between the ages of 20 and 35,” Guzman said. “We have a young community that is growing in our archdiocese. Little by little, I’ve seen how Hispanics have been growing, and it’s going to continue growing. It’s estimated that by 2054, the young adults will be the ones leading the Hispanic community.”

Christian Services

Chris Leach, coordinator of the Office of Christian Services with the Archdiocese of Detroit, was given a “battlefield promotion” in the spring after the pandemic hit, and now leads efforts to coordinate the corporal works of mercy among the archdiocese’s 200-plus parishes.

Leach, along with Mary Kraus, Christian service coordinator at St. Lawrence Parish in Utica, discussed how the Catholic Services Appeal helps the Church serve the less fortunate throughout southeast Michigan.

“At the Office of Christian Services, we support all of the Christian service coordinators, food pantry coordinators, parish council members, parish nurses, home visitors and fraternal organizations like the Knights of Columbus and St. Vincent de Paul,” Leach said. “All of the people who do great things to bring the Gospel to those in need and be witnesses to God’s mercy.”

“During the midst of the pandemic, the Knights of Columbus came forward with a very generous donation, and with our friends at Catholic Charities, we were able to collect and redistribute more than $200,000 worth of food and cleaning supplies and other things our parishes needed,” Leach said.

As pastor of St. Aloysius in downtown Detroit, which serves many low-income people in the city, Fr. Amore noted the Office of Christian Service was instrumental in coordinating food outreach during the height of the pandemic.

“During the midst of the pandemic, the Knights of Columbus came forward with a very generous donation, and with our friends at Catholic Charities, we were able to collect and redistribute more than $200,000 worth of food and cleaning supplies and other things our parishes needed,” Leach said.

There are 52 food pantries operating throughout the Archdiocese of Detroit that respond every day to the needs of families who struggle to afford meals, Leach said.

“None of them were forced to close because of a lack of resources during this crazy pandemic,” Leach said.

Kraus, Christian service coordinator for 12 years at St. Lawrence, recalled scrambling when the pandemic hit to rearrange a scheduled visit by MCREST, the Macomb County Rotating Emergency Shelter Team, instead serving hot meals to homeless guests bought from struggling local restaurants.

“Over the years, I’ve benefitted greatly from the support that the (archdiocese) has provided,” Kraus said. “It’s very important that Christian service coordinators have somewhere we can go to get questions answered, run ideas by, and to help us in our formation in Catholic social teaching.”

Communications

The final segment of the broadcast highlighted the work of the Office of Communications — including the video livestream crew that made the entire “Giving Day” event possible.

Before archdiocesan communications director Edmundo Reyes spoke, viewers were treated to a virtual performance by the Archdiocese of Detroit Schola, which perfomed “Tue es Petrus” (“You Are Peter”) by Giovanni Peirluigi da Palestrina from the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament.

Reyes noted that the Office of Communications, which supports ministries such as Unleash the Gospel magazine, Detroit Catholic, podcasts such as “Eyes on Jesus” and “Open Door Policy” and video and livestream content, amplifies the good works of parishes, schools and ministries across the archdiocese.

“We’re hopefully able to inspire people and point them to Christ,” Reyes said. “We get to have all the fun, doing this through all kinds of media: podcasts, video, written word and magazines. We try to do it in a way that’s professional and engaging and advances the mission.”

“If you think about the missionary transformation of our archdiocese, it’s not just about our parishes and schools, but it’s about all of the people who live in southeast Michigan,” Reyes said. “I think of our team as providing ‘air support’ for the work our parishes and ministries do on the ground.”

During the height of the pandemic, the communications department responded by providing weekly livestream Masses, rosaries and powerful written, video and audio content to the faithful who were physically separated from their parishes.

“For a number of weeks, we were working long days trying to get information out to help the people of the archdiocese regarding the pandemic, the suspension of public Masses, but also producing a lot of good content because people were at home,” Reyes said.

“We actually ended up doing more content than we did before the pandemic, despite the limitations,” Reyes added. “I’m very proud of everyone who works in our department: video producers and writers and journalists. They all understood that we had a task to accomplish, and they went to work.”

During Lent and Easter, more than 800,000 people were reached by the content produced by the communications team, Reyes said — a monumental achievement.

“We’re hopefully able to inspire people and point them to Christ,” he said. “We get to have all the fun, doing this through all kinds of media: podcasts, video, written word and magazines. We try to do it in a way that’s professional and engaging and advances the mission.”

Support the Mission

To support the mission of the Archdiocese of Detroit, including more than 170 ministries funded by the Catholic Services Appeal, visit www.aodgivingday.org to make a pledge today.