Call from the Cardinal

By New Outlook

Weekday evenings for a bishop vary. He might be visiting a parish, attending an event, or enjoying a rare moment of solitude. On one particular Monday Bishop Edward J. Weisenburger happened to be home and without a commitment.  He took advantage of the free time and opted to hop on his treadmill.  As he was stepping on, the story goes, his cell phone rang. The name read, "Cardinal Christophe Pierre."  Bishop Weisenburger recalls that when he saw the cardinal's name on his phone, he thought it was odd because in the past when he received a call from the Pope's ambassador it happened in the morning. Bishop Weisenburger has previously received two calls from prelates to discuss his moving in the Church. The first when becoming the bishop of Salina in Kansas in 2012 and again in 2017 when he was appointed to Tucson.  
 
On this particular day the call was about a transfer, "He was gracious, very kind, very happy. He told me that the Holy Father was pleased with my work, and he was asking me to transfer to the Archdiocese of Detroit." Weisenburger then, with humor, recounted how he felt, "I don't keep an external defibrillator at my house, but I could have used one because that was not on my radar."  Weisenburger said, "As I suspect many bishops do I began to stammer a bit telling him that I was deeply humbled but I'm not really sure that I saw myself in that light and he pointed out that there's always a benefit to responding yes to the Holy Father."
 
Weisenburger harkened back to 1983 while in the seminary, he was particularly stressed with moving to Belgium.  His spiritual director told him, "Ed, at some point, if you are called to priesthood, you're going to have to learn to say yes." He said the spiritual director reminded him that the Virgin Mary didn't get to think about what was being asked of her, "He kind of shamed me spiritually into going and it was a good experience. That was a crucial moment in my life and since then I've always been trying to say yes."
 
Ordained a priest for 37 years, Weisenburger has served in four dioceses, in four provinces, and in four regions of the United States. He spent 25 years in Oklahoma City, five years in Kansas, and seven in Tucson. Weisenburger said, "I'm looking forward to about a hundred years in Detroit." Oddly enough Archbishop-designate Weisenburger has never stepped foot in the Archdiocese of Detroit. The largest diocese in Michigan, the Archdiocese of Detroit has nearly a million Catholics, more than 200 parishes, and 89 schools.
 
The transfer is historic, in that it's been more than 100 years since a Tucson Bishop has been transferred to an archdiocese. Exciting for the laity, it's the totality of the experience that intrigues Weisenburger the most, "When we're open to the mystery of the future, good things unfold." From the western plains to the Sonoran desert, Weisenburger says the experience has been marvelous, "It's been exciting and different. It's been filled with surprises and blessings."
 
Weisenburger succeeds Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron who submitted his resignation to the Holy Father when he turned 75 on October 21,  2023. Archbishop Weisenburger will be installed as the sixth Archbishop of Detroit on Tuesday, March 18, 2025.