Of the 18 Detroit priest to have been appointed as bishops since 1980, 14 have served at Sacred Heart Major Seminary (left), the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak, or both, prior to their ordination. (File photos)
Four future bishops have served as pastor or associate pastor of the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica since 1980.It’s not just Bishops Gerard Battersby and Robert Fisher, who served as vice rector of the seminary and pastor of Shrine, respectively, before being named to their episcopal posts in November. In fact, since 1980, a solid majority of the bishops ordained from the Archdiocese of Detroit have had a connection to at least one of the two institutions.
When asked whether there was something in the water at Sacred Heart Major Seminary that turned priests into bishops, Bishop Battersby laughed and shrugged.
“This is like an aquarium; it’s a good fishing hole,” he told The Michigan Catholic in an interview. “You don’t have to go too far to snag a live one.”
Of the 18 Detroit priests to be ordained bishops since 1980, 14 have served at either Sacred Heart or Shrine before their ordination to the episcopate. Of those, 13 have served in some capacity at the seminary, while three have served in a pastoral role at Shrine (and two served at both).
Apart from Bishop Battersby, bishops who have ministered at Sacred Heart include: Archbishop Leonard Blair of Hartford, Conn. (academic dean); Bishop Earl Boyea of Lansing (faculty member); the late Bishop Kevin Britt of Grand Rapids (spiritual director); Archbishop Michael Byrnes of Agana, Guam (vice rector); Auxiliary Bishop Donald Hanchon (spiritual director, director of priestly vocations); Bishop-emeritus Bernard Harrington of Winona, Minn. (rector, directory of priestly vocations); Bishop Jeffrey Monforton of Steubenville, Ohio (rector); Archbishop-emeritus John Nienstedt of Minneapolis/St. Paul (rector); Bishop John Quinn of Winona (faculty member); Auxiliary Bishop Francis Reiss (academic dean); and Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron (rector).
Bishop Fisher, too, could be considered to have served at Sacred Heart, having been director of priestly vocations for the archdiocese from 1995-2000.
Three besides Bishop Fisher have also served at Shrine prior to their consecration as bishops: Archbishop Nienstedt and Bishop Monforton served there together as pastor and associate pastor, respectively, from 1994-96, while Archbishop-emeritus Alexander Brunett of Seattle was Shrine’s pastor from 1991-94.
Bishop Battersby, who directly follows his predecessor, Archbishop Byrnes, in going from vice rector of Sacred Heart to a member of the episcopate, theorizes that the experience a priest gains from helping form the next generation of priests can be invaluable in his role as a bishop, too.
“One of the roles of the dean of formation and the vice rector is in some respects to be a gatekeeper for men advancing in orders,” Bishop Battersby said. “One of the things we need to do is help our men live in reality, and we live in an age where people are invited to live in alternate realities. So to be able to help young men to know that Christ is reality, and to live out of that truth, really prepares you for combat in a world that has grown weary of the message of Christ.”
Related stories
For more stories about the ordination and background of the Archdiocese of Detroit's new auxiliary bishops, Bishop Robert Fisher and Bishop Gerard Battersby, check out The Michigan Catholic's special section.
