Archdiocese of Detroit - At It Again!

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My husband received this letter today. I have copied it verbatim, with the exception of the luncheon details:

Dear brother in priestly ministry,

At the recent mini-convocation, the speaker, Nick Rice, suggessted that one book that should be on every priest’s “must” reading list is Dean Hoge’s work, Evolving Visions of the Priesthood. Better than the book, we have arranged for Dean Hoge to be with us in person for an afternoon conference at:

**Our Lady of Fatima Parish, Oak Park on October 25th from 1:00 to 5:00 pm.

**We have entitled the conference: “Fostering the Solidarity of the Detroit Presbyterate.” Dean Hoge, a professor at the Catholic University of America and a distinguished researcher for CARA (Center for Applied Research for the Apostolate) will present his findings on the priesthood. These will then be responded to by four active priests of the Archdiocese. The remainder of the time will allow for open discussion and questions from the floor.

A light lunch… (yada yada)

Please join us and bring along a priest friend. We look forward to a stimulating and rewarding afternoon.

The letter was signed by the following (just as they signed their names):

Gerry Bechard Paul Chateau Tom Gumbleton
Tom Lumpkin Bob Morand John Nowlan
Ed Scheuerman Norm Thomas Larry Ventline
Bob Wurm Jerry Singer

You may ask, “Who is this Dean Hoge, & why should I be worried about him?” Good question. His book served as a tutorial of sorts for the uber-secret “Elephant in the Sanctuary” meeting. Read his esteemed findings americamagazine.org/BookReview.cfm?textlD=3406&articletypeid=31&issuelD=470] here.

As we received the letter, and it does invite us to bring along a friend, I assume this one is not to be closed. My husband would go, but it’s during office hours, and he already has shortened hours because of attending SHMS. Sounds like they won’t be checking ID - I’d like to see some orthodox men get in there and observe (my friend will not go).

Your thoughts?
 
I did live in the Archdiocese of Detroit for three years in the Undergraduate Seminary (Orchard Lake). Sounds like things haven’t gotten any better.

At the time,. Archbishop Szoka was in charge. Though he is a friend of mind and uncle of my most recent Goddaughter, things were rough then.

At the same time, I must say, though people told me of all kinds of things going on there, and I did witness them from time to time when visiting the homes of fellow seminarians, etc., any parish practical ministry assignments that I had there were first rate all the way, including the priests. The most “liberal” I encountered there were I suppose what we’d call “center-right.” I was very fortuante, from what I understand.

Keep the faith! If you don’t, who will???

– Fr. L.
 
What are the fruits of the progressive (46 - 65 yr old group)?

Irreverent Masses, extraordinary ministers of communion and other "lay ministers yakin’ it up before Mass as if they were at a bar or pizza joint. Lack of knowledge and belief in the Real Presence (transubstantiation). Also protestant bible classes with some progressive Catholic faux theology tacked on and of course disparaging comments toward the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and those who read it.

Hopefully the younger priests will embrace their priesthood better than too many in the 46-65 yr old group.

This is my humble observation and opinion.
 
Fr. JLT said:
I did live in the Archdiocese of Detroit for three years in the Undergraduate Seminary (Orchard Lake). Sounds like things haven’t gotten any better.

At the time,. Archbishop Szoka was in charge. Though he is a friend of mind and uncle of my most recent Goddaughter, things were rough then.

At the same time, I must say, though people told me of all kinds of things going on there, and I did witness them from time to time when visiting the homes of fellow seminarians, etc., any parish practical ministry assignments that I had there were first rate all the way, including the priests. The most “liberal” I encountered there were I suppose what we’d call “center-right.” I was very fortuante, from what I understand.

Keep the faith! If you don’t, who will???

– Fr. L.
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Fr. L, things were better for a time at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, but the rector (Bp. Allen Vigneron) was sent to the diocese of Oakland, CA.

Although I had my disagreements with Cardinal Szoka, he has really tried to keep things relatively orthodox. Cardinal Maida doesn’t discipline anything. The IHM nuns in Monroe donated money to Emily’s List, and the cardinal paid lip service as to it being disapproved. That was it. He is so fervent in attending to the sexual scandals, that it is now becoming a witch hunt, and everything else is being laid aside. The consensus among the faithful (not the left wing of the faithful, either) is that Cardinal Maida does not want to chase people away from the Church by shutting down these goofy factions. Maybe I look at it through rose-colored glasses, but I am reasonably sure that the vocations crisis is directly related to the way this diocese is run. Vent over. Carry on.

I’ve been by St. Mary’s College & the seminary hundreds of times. My brother lives in Union Lake. I love to stop at the Grotto all year round - it is so beautiful. Good, orthodox seminary.
 
The Archdiocese of Detroit without a doubt is facing alot of challenges of late, and every projection is indicating things will only get worse. Since the vocations crisis is so bad there, why don’t they try taking up orthodoxy for a change? After all nothing else seems to be working to interest more young men in enrolling at Sacred Heart seminary. So in that regard I would suggest to Cardinal Maida an ideological shift in every parish more in the direction of Rome.

Here is what is happening there detnews.com/2004/religion/0407/27/a01-212300.htm
 
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Catholic29:
The Archdiocese of Detroit without a doubt is facing alot of challenges of late, and every projection is indicating things will only get worse. Since the vocations crisis is so bad there, why don’t they try taking up orthodoxy for a change? After all nothing else seems to be working to interest more young men in enrolling at Sacred Heart seminary. So in that regard I would suggest to Cardinal Maida an ideological shift in every parish more in the direction of Rome.

Here is what is happening there detnews.com/2004/religion/0407/27/a01-212300.htm
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I was stricken by the same story. The preist owes it to the parishioners to help them merge with their new parish. The time for prostestation is past, and by demeaning the Mass by way of protests is past., The parish is closed. The priest should be moving his parish toward the cluster.
 
Hello! Not sure how long you’ve been in Detroiut but if for a while, do you remember the great vocations program in the mid/late 80’s there? It was a program of TV commercials and billboards. The results after it was completed, if I recall, were something like 2 calls to the Vocations Office from married men, and three from non-Catholics. The only thing that foisters vocations is prayer, a positive outlook and a genuine love for Church and priests, fostered in the home. That’s the root. Yes, good priestly models are necessary as well, but it’s rare that a good priestly model comes from a poor home formation in terms of love for the Church.

I am very saddened to hear about Detroit. I was hoping that Cardinal Maida had made some progress.

– Fr. L.
 
Hello! Not sure how long you’ve been in Detroiut but if for a while, do you remember the great vocations program in the mid/late 80’s there? It was a program of TV commercials and billboards. The results after it was completed, if I recall, were something like 2 calls to the Vocations Office from married men, and three from non-Catholics. The only thing that foisters vocations is prayer, a positive outlook and a genuine love for Church and priests, fostered in the home. That’s the root. Yes, good priestly models are necessary as well, but it’s rare that a good priestly model comes from a poor home formation in terms of love for the Church.
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I am very saddened to hear about Detroit. I was hoping that Cardinal Maida had made some progress.
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– Fr. L.
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Hello Fr. L

I have never actually lived in Detroit, but I have heard enough about what is happening to know things aren’t looking well vocation wise for the parishes and archdiocese there. Though my diocese has recently had a bit more success in fostering vocations, which I attribute to prayer, we are still in a similar dilemma as Detroit. My parish in the past couple years has clustered with two others.

I entirely agree that any vocation begins in the home, as well as for a positive outlook of the Church and clergy. But an adequate understanding of the sacraments, and knowing the nessesity for the ministerial priesthood in our Catholic faith are equally essential as well. Inspite of the clergy shortage in alot of places, I still feel many Catholics take their priests for granted. And the contraceptive mentality of many Catholic families in our culture has contributed greatly to the emptying of our seminaries and religious houses of formation. This article by Dr. John P. Fraunces explains it in depth.

Lord, send us more pastors to shepherd your flock, and help those who have responded to your call to persevere till ordination. Amen
 
Fr. JLT:
Hello! Not sure how long you’ve been in Detroiut but if for a while, do you remember the great vocations program in the mid/late 80’s there? It was a program of TV commercials and billboards. The results after it was completed, if I recall, were something like 2 calls to the Vocations Office from married men, and three from non-Catholics. The only thing that foisters vocations is prayer, a positive outlook and a genuine love for Church and priests, fostered in the home. That’s the root. Yes, good priestly models are necessary as well, but it’s rare that a good priestly model comes from a poor home formation in terms of love for the Church.

I am very saddened to hear about Detroit. I was hoping that Cardinal Maida had made some progress.

– Fr. L.
Click to expand...
Oh, they’re still running it, but not on TV anymore. The billboards show a Roman collar with the caption, “For the Love of God, Try it On.” SHMS sponsors “Try it On” discernment weekends. I don’t know when they’ll learn that vocations don’t come from billboards.
:rolleyes:
 
Both of you hit the nail on the proverbial head. Couldn’t be put any better.
 
Detroit Sue:
Oh, they’re still running it, but not on TV anymore. The billboards show a Roman collar with the caption, “For the Love of God, Try it On.” SHMS sponsors “Try it On” discernment weekends. I don’t know when they’ll learn that vocations don’t come from billboards.
:rolleyes:
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I wonder how many parishes actually pray for vocations and encourage them. Our parish offers up prayers for vocations to the priesthood and religious life at every single Mass. Since I’ve been a parishoner, one man was ordained a priest, at least one other (that I know of) has entered seminary, another man has entered a monastery, and two have been ordained as permanent deacons (including one just a couple of weeks ago). I imagine there are others that I do not know about (large parish). Our priests, deacons and nuns are obviously normal, happy people leading good lives. Our pastor gave an excellent homily several weeks ago about how we need to place God above all else in our lives. If that means parents letting go of their desire for grandchildren in order to encourage a child to follow his or her vocation to religious life, then so be it (there was more, but this was one of the main points).

There are a number of large orthodox families at our parish, and so we have a number of teenagers who are very devout and active in the Church. It wouldn’t surprise me if some of them were called to religious life or the priesthood. Hopefully they wouldn’t be discouraged by the seminary.
 
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