DETROIT — Archbishop Edward J. Weisenburger will be installed today as the 10th ordinary and sixth archbishop of Detroit during a 2 p.m. Mass at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit.
Watch Archbishop Weisenburger's installation Mass live at 2 p.m. Tuesday, March 18, on the Archdiocese of Detroit's website and Facebook page.
Today's Mass will feature a reading of the papal decree, which Archbishop Weisenburger will show to the faithful of the Archdiocese of Detroit, as well as a solemn rite in which he will be given his episcopal crosier and miter and take his seat upon his cathedra in the cathedral's sanctuary, signifying the inauguration of his ministry as archbishop of Detroit.
The installation Mass will be reserved seating only, but the faithful are invited to take part via livestream on the Archdiocese of Detroit's website, Facebook and YouTube channels, as well as here on Detroit Catholic.
A reception will take place afterward at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit.
Meet Archbishop Edward J. Weisenburger
Edward Joseph Weisenburger was born in Alton, Ill., on Dec. 23, 1960, to Edward John Weisenburger and Asella (Walters) Weisenburger, the third of their four surviving children. His father was a military officer and his mother a homemaker. Archbishop Weisenburger grew up primarily in Lawton, Okla., but as necessitated by following his father’s career, his family also lived briefly in Kansas and Texas. Following high school graduation he attended Conception Seminary College in Missouri, graduating with honors in 1983.
He was then assigned to the American College Seminary at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium from 1983-87, earning the Pontifical S.T.B. in Theology, along with an M.A. in Religious Studies and a Masters in Moral and Religious Sciences, M.MR.Sc. On Dec. 19, 1987, he was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Oklahoma City.
Archbishop Weisenburger served as parochial vicar of St. Mary Church in Ponca City from 1987-90. He then attended the University of St. Paul in Ottawa, Canada, earning the pontifical J.C.L. degree in canon law in 1992. Upon his return home, he was appointed vice-chancellor and adjutant judicial vicar. In addition to chancery and tribunal duties, he also did weekend parish and prison ministries from 1992-95 and served as an on-site chaplain for rescue workers in the weeks following the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.
In the fall of 1995, he began 17 years of service on the Council of Priests and the Archdiocesan College of Consultors. He likewise served as a member of the Seminarian Board for 15 years. In June 1996, he was appointed vicar general of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City. He was an officer with the Archdiocesan Tribunal for almost 20 years and served as promoter of justice for the cause of canonization of Blessed Stanley Francis Rother. On Oct. 2, 2009, he was appointed a Prelate of Honor to His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, with the title Reverend Monsignor. Archbishop Weisenburger served as pastor of two Oklahoma parishes: Holy Trinity in Okarche (1995-2002) and the Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Oklahoma City (2002-12).
On Feb. 6, 2012, Archbishop Weisenburger was appointed the 11th bishop of Salina, Kansas, by His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI. He was ordained and installed at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Salina on May 1, 2012, with Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann, archbishop of Kansas City, presiding over the liturgy and serving as the principal ordaining prelate. On Oct. 3, 2017, Archbishop Weisenburger was appointed bishop of Tucson by His Holiness, Pope Francis. He was installed as the seventh bishop of Tucson on Nov. 29, 2017.
Archbishop Weisenburger serves the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) on the Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People and has previously served on the Committee for Migration as well as a Subcommittee of the Catholic Communication Campaign.
He currently serves as episcopal moderator for the National Association of Church Personnel Administrators (NACPA), is a member of Chicago’s Mundelein Seminary Board, and is a past board chairman of Catholic Rural Life. He enjoys fourth degree membership in the Knights of Columbus as well as the rank of Knight Commander with Star in the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem.
Archbishop Wesienburger was appointed the 10th ordinary and sixth archbishop of Detroit by His Holiness, Pope Francis, on Feb. 11, 2025. Archbishop Weisenburger will be installed on March 18, 2025.
