Archbishop Weisenburger’s installation continues a legacy of leadership that dates back 191 years for Catholics in Michigan
DETROIT — Ever since the establishment of the Diocese of Detroit — now an archdiocese — in 1833, eleven successors to the apostles have been entrusted with the care of the souls of Detroit's faithful.
Today, March 18, 2025, Archbishop Edward J. Weisenburger will join a line of bishops who have faithfully shepherded the local Church over the past 191 years. In 1937, the Diocese of Detroit was raised to the status of an archdiocese.
Watch Archbishop Weisenburger's installation Mass live at 2 p.m. Tuesday, March 18, on the Archdiocese of Detroit's website and Facebook page.
Archbishop Weisenburger will be the sixth archbishop of Detroit and the 11th bishop, but technically only its 10th ordinary. That's because Bishop Peter Paul Lefevere, Detroit's second bishop, never canonically assumed possession of the diocese; he served as coadjutor bishop from 1841 until his death in 1869.
Here's a brief history of the men who've shepherded Detroit's Catholic faithful:
The History of Detroit's Bishops
I. Bishop Frederick John Conrad Rese
The Diocese of Detroit was erected on March 8, 1833, from the Diocese of Cincinnati, comprising of all of Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and the Dakotas east of the Mississippi River. Frederick John Conrad Rese, born Feb. 6, 1791 in Vienenburg, in the German Electorate of Hanover, was named by Pope Gregory XVI to be the first Bishop of Detroit. However, it wouldn’t be until Jan. 7, 1834, when he made his way to Ste. Anne Cathedral. The Diocese of Detroit saw growth in the City of Detroit with parishes such as Most Holy Trinity and Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In 1840, Bishop Rese became mentally ill and was unable to fulfill his office. He was recalled to Rome and eventually retired to a nursing home of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul in Hildesheim in modern-day Germany. In accordance with the practice at the time, he remained nominally the Bishop of Detroit while the diocese of administered by a coadjutor. He died Dec. 30, 1871.
II. Bishop Peter Paul Lefevere
Peter Paul Lefevere was born April 29, 1804, in the Roeselare, West Flanders, in Belgium. He was educated in Paris and left for the United States in 1828, where he completed his studies for the priesthood at The Barrens in Perryville, Missouri. He was ordained a priest in Perryville for the Diocese of St. Louis on Nov. 30, 1831. Pope Gregory XVI appointed Fr. Lefevere to be the coadjutor bishop of Detroit, July 23, 1841, and titular bishop of Zela. He was ordained titular bishop of Zela on Nov. 21, 1841, at St. John Pro-Cathedral in Philadelphia by Bishop Joseh Rosati of St. Louis. The Diocese of Detroit covered the Michigan Territory, which was comprised of Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin as well as Michigan. In 1843, the diocese would shrink to comprise only Michigan with the establishment of the Diocese of Milwaukee. During Bishop’s Lefevere’s tenure, parishes increased from 25 to 160. He recruited the Redemptorists to be the first order to staff a parish in Detroit. He established St. Thomas Seminary and worked with Bishop Martin Spalding of Louisville to establish the American College at Louvain in Belgium. He built SS. Peter and Paul Church to become Detroit's new cathedral in 1848. He invited the Daughters of Charity to be the first teaching sisters in Detroit, and later the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, were established in 1845. Bishop Lefevere died March 4, 1869; he was first buried at SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral, and later transferred to Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.
III. Bishop Caspar Henry Borgess
Caspar Henry Borgess was born Aug. 1, 1824, in Addrup, Essen, in the Grand Cuchy of Oldenburg in modern-day Germany. The Borgess family came to the United States in 1839, residing in Philadelphia before moving on to Cincinnati, where Borgess attended St. Xavier College. Borgess then went on to Mount St. Mary’s Seminary of the West and was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Cincinnati on Dec. 8, 1848, by Bishop Richard Vincent Whelan of Richmond, Va. Pope Pius IX appointed Fr. Borgess as titular bishop of Calydon on Feb. 8, 1870, and coadjutor bishop of Detroit in February 1870. Fr. Borgess was ordained a bishop at St. Peter in Chains Cathedral in Cincinnati on April 24, 1870, by Bishop Sylvester Horton Rosecrans of Columbus, Ohio and succeeded as bishop of Detroit on Dec. 30, 1871. During his episcopacy, the Catholic population grew from 90,000 to 120,000 and from 56 parishes to 90. He invited the Society of Jesus to form the University of Detroit in 1877, gifting the order SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral and moving the cathedral to St. Aloysius Parish as the pro-cathedral from 1877 to 1890. He petitioned the Vatican to erect the Diocese of Grand Rapids in 1882. Bishop Borgess resigned as bishop of Detroit on April 16, 1877, and was appointed titular bishop of Phasusa on Aug. 14, 1888. He died May 3, 1890, in Kalamazoo. He was originally buried at St. Augustine Church in Kalamazoo before being moved to Nazareth College in 1906 and again to Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in 1939.
IV. Bishop John Samuel Foley
John Samuel Foley was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on Nov. 5, 1833. After completing studies at St. Mary’s College and St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore, Foley was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Baltimore in Rome by Cardinal Costantino Patrizi Naro. Pope Leo XIII appointed Fr. Foley as appointed bishop of Detroit on Aug. 3, 1888. He was ordained a bishop on Nov. 4, 1888, by Cardinal James Gibbons of Baltimore at Assumption Cathedral in Baltimore. As Detroit’s first American-born bishop, Bishop Foley established SS. Cyril and Methodius Seminary in Detroit for Polish Catholics, oversaw the construction of St. Francis Home for Orphan Boys, and oversaw a growth of the Catholic population and parishes, including a doubling of priestly vocations. The cathedral moved to St. Patrick Parish in Midtown Detroit, renamed SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral in 1890. He died Jan. 5, 1918, in Detroit.
V. Bishop Michael James Gallagher
Michael James Gallagher was born Nov. 16, 1866, in Auburn, Michigan, then still part of the Diocese of Detroit. Gallagher studied at Assumption College in Sandwich, Ontario, Mungret College in Limerick, Ireland, and the University of Innsbruck in Austria before he was ordained a priest in Innsbruck, Austria, for the Diocese of Grand Rapids on March, 19, 1893, by Bishop Simon Aichner of Brixen. Fr. Gallagher was appointed by Pope Benedict XV as coadjutor bishop of Grand Rapids on July 5, 1915, and titular bishop of Muretania. He was ordained a bishop Sept. 8, 1915, by Bishop Henry Joseph Richter of Grand Rapids at the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Grand Rapids. Bishop Gallagher was appointed bishop of Detroit on July 18, 1918, and was installed Nov. 18. Bishop Gallagher opened Sacred Heart Seminary in 1919, and after a $4 million fundraising effort, built the permanent facility in 1924, opening with 500 seminarians. Bishop Gallagher died in Providence Hospital on Jan. 20, 1937.
VI. Cardinal Edward Aloysius Mooney
Edward Aloysius Mooney was born May 9, 1882, in Mount Savage, Maryland. Mooney studied at St. Charles College in Ellicott City, Maryland, before moving on to St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore and eventually, the Pontifical North American College in Rome. Mooney was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Cleveland by Cardinal Pietro Respighi in Rome on April 10, 1909. On Jan. 18, 1926, Fr. Mooney was named the apostolic delegate to the East Indies and titular archbishop of Irenopolis in Isauria. He was ordained a bishop on Jan. 31, 1926, by Cardinal Willem Mariunus van Rossum of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme. Bishop Mooney was named the apostolic delegate to Japan on March 30, 1931. In 1933, Bishop Mooney was named the bishop of Rochester, New York, with the personal title of archbishop. On May 26, 1937, Pope Pius XI appointed Archbishop Mooney as the first archbishop of Detroit, raising the Diocese of Detroit to the status of an archdiocese. Archbishop Mooney got permission from the Vatican to move the diocesan see to the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament on Feb. 20, 1938, coinciding with Detroit being elevated to an archdiocese and the metropolitan see of all of Michigan. The Archdiocese of Detroit ceded its territory in mid-Michigan after the creation of the Diocese of Lansing in 1937. Archbishop Mooney went to work to build rapport with the local community, encouraging priests across the archdiocese to establish parish labor skills to help Catholics in the trades build up techniques and skills to advance in unions. On Feb. 18, 1946, Pope Pius XII elevated Archbishop Mooney to the College of Cardinals and appointed him the cardinal-priest of Santa Susanna. With the introduction of the interstate highway system, Detroit’s northern suburbs started to grow, and Cardinal Mooney purchased property to build parishes in the northern part of the Archdiocese of Detroit. In 1957, Cardinal Mooney delivered the benediction at President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s second inauguration. Cardinal Mooney died on Oct. 25, 1858, in Rome as he was preparing for the 1858 papal conclave. Cardinal Mooney was originally buried at St. John’s Provincial Seminary in Plymouth before being transferred to Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Southfield.
VII. Cardinal John Francis Dearden
John Francis Dearden was born Oct. 15, 1907, in Valley Falls, Rhode Island. The Dearden family moved to Cleveland when John was 11. Dearden studied at St. Mary’s Seminary in Cleveland before progressing to the Pontifical North American College and Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. Dearden was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Cleveland by Cardinal Francesco Marchetti Selvaggiani of Santa Maria Nuova in Rome on Dec. 8, 1932. He was appointed coadjutor bishop of Pittsburg on March 13, 1948, and titular bishop of Sarepta, and was ordained a bishop of May 18, 1948, by Archbishop Amleto Giovanni Cicognani, the titular archbishop of Laodicea in Phrygia at St. Agnes Church in Cleveland. He became bishop of Pittsburgh on Dec. 22, 1950. On Dec. 18, 1958, Pope John XXIII appointed Bishop Dearden as the second archbishop of Detroit. Archbishop Dearden attended all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council as a council father, helping develop key documents such as Lumen Gentium and Gaudium et Spes. In 1969, Archbishop Dearden was created a cardinal by Pope Paul VI as the cardinal-priest of San Pio X alla Balduina. Following a diocesan synod that same year, Cardinal Dearden implemented reforms in the Church in Archdiocese of Detroit based on the deliberations of the Second Vatican Council, including greater participation of the laity in diocesan affairs and restoring the permanent diaconate. Cardinal Dearden served as one of the cardinal electors who participated in the August and October 1978 conclaves, which elected Pope John Paul I and Pope John Paul II, respectively. Cardinal Dearden resigned as Detroit’s archbishop on July 15, 1980. He died Aug. 1, 1988, in Southfield and is buried at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.
VIII. Cardinal Edmund Casimir Szoka
Edmund Casimir Szoka was born in Grand Rapids on Sept. 14, 1927. After studying at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Grand Rapids, Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit and St. John’s Provincial Seminary in Plymouth, Szoka was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Marquette on June 5, 1954, by Bishop Thomas Lawrence Noa of Marquette. Fr. Szoka was appointed the bishop of Gaylord on June 11, 1971, and was consecrated as a bishop on July 20, 1971, by Cardinal John F. Dearden of Detroit. Bishop Szoka was appointed the third archbishop of Detroit on March 28, 1981, by Pope John Paul II and was installed on May 17. Archbishop Szoka was created a cardinal on June 28, 1988, and appointed the cardinal-priest of Santi Andrea e Gregorio al Monte Celio. In 1990, Pope John Paul II appointed Cardinal Szoka as president of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See, ending his time as archbishop of Detroit. Cardinal Szoka would go on to serve as president of the Pontifical Commission for the Vatican City State in 1997 and president of the Governorate of the Vatican City State in 2001. Cardinal Szoka participated in the 2005 papal conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI and was a non-voting member 2013 conclave that elected Pope Francis. He retired in 2006 and returned to the Archdiocese of Detroit, living in Northville. Cardinal Szoka died Aug. 20, 2014, and is buried at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Southfield.
IX. Cardinal Adam Joseph Maida
Adam Joseph Maida was born March 18, 1930, in East Vandergrift, Pa. Maida studied at St. Mary’s Preparatory High School at Orchard Lake before going on to St. Mary’s College. He then transferred to St. Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa., and St. Mary’s University in Baltimore, before being ordained a priest for the Diocese of Pittsburgh by Bishop John F. Dearden on May 26, 1956, at the Cathedral of St. Paul in Pittsburgh. Fr. Maida was appointed bishop of Green Bay on Nov. 8, 1983, and was consecrated a bishop on Jan. 25, 1984, by Archbishop Pio Laghi, titular archbishop of Mauriana. Bishop Maida was appointed the fourth archbishop of Detroit on April 28, 1990, by Pope John Paul II, and was installed on June 12, 1990. In 1994, Archbishop Maida was elevated to the College of Cardinals and created the cardinal-priest of Santi Vitale, Valeria, Gervasio e Protasio. Cardinal Maida’s pastoral responsibility grew when he was named superior of the Cayman Islands on July 14, 2000. Cardinal Maida participated in the 2005 papal conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI and was a non-voting member 2013 conclave that elected Pope Francis. Cardinal Maida retired as archbishop of Detroit on Jan. 5, 2009. He currently resides at St. John’s Resort in Plymouth (formerly St. John’s Provincial Seminary) and celebrates his 95th birthday tomorrow.
X. Archbishop Allen Henry Vigneron
Allen Henry Vigneron was born in Mount Clemens on Oct. 21, 1948, the only Detroit ordinary from southeast Michigan. After studying at Sacred Heart Seminary and the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, Vigneron was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Detroit on July 26, 1975, by Cardinal John F. Dearden at St. Clement of Rome Parish in Romeo. After serving many years on the faculty of Sacred Heart Seminary — including later as the second rector-president of the re-founded Sacred Heart Major Seminary — Fr. Vigneron was appointed an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Detroit and the titular bishop of Sault Sainte Marie in Michigan. He was ordained a bishop by Cardinal Adam J. Maida of Detroit on July 9, 1996, at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament. On Jan. 10, 2003, Bishop Vigneron was appointed the coadjutor bishop of Oakland, California, and was installed coadjutor bishop of Oakland on Feb. 26, 2003. On Oct. 1, 2003, he succeeded as the bishop of Oakland. On Jan. 5, 2009, Bishop Vigneron was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI as the fifth archbishop of Detroit and superior of the Cayman Islands. Archbishop Vigneron was installed as the archbishop of Detroit on Jan. 28, 2009, where he served until his retirement was accepted by Pope Francis on Feb. 11, 2025. Since then, Archbishop Vigneron has served as the apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Detroit until Archbishop Edward J. Weisenburger’s installation on March 18, 2025.
XI. Archbishop Edward Joseph Weisenburger
Edward Joseph Weisenburger was born Dec. 23, 1960, in Alton, Illinois. After studying at Conception Seminary College in Conception, Missouri, and the American College Seminary at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium, he was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City on Dec. 19, 1987, by Archbishop Charles A. Salatka of Oklahoma City. Fr. Weisenburger was appointed the bishop of Salina, Kansas, on Feb. 6, 2012, and was ordained a bishop on May 1, 2012, by Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City. Bishop Weisenburger was appointed the bishop of Tucson, Arizona, on Oct. 3, 2017, and was installed on Nov. 29, 2017. On Feb. 11, 2025, Pope Francis named Archbishop Weisenburger as the sixth archbishop of Detroit. He will be installed as Detroit’s 11th bishop and the see’s 10th ordinary on March 18, 2025.
