Pope Francis has appointed Bishop Edward Weisenburger of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson to the Archdiocese of Detroit, Tucson diocese officials announced today.
The Diocese of Tucson includes Yuma and La Paz counties and covers southern Arizona.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops announced that the Holy Father accepted the resignation of Archbishop Allen Vigneron, age 76, from the pastoral governance of the archdiocese in Michigan.
All Catholic bishops are required to submit a letter of resignation when they reach 75 years of age, but recently the Pope has left senior leaders to serve for several months and even several years in some dioceses and archdioceses, according to Crux.
Until Archbishop-elect Weisenburger leaves the Tucson diocese for his installation as Archbishop of Detroit, he will serve as the Apostolic Administrator for the Diocese of Tucson, diocesan officials said. When Weisenburger leaves Tucson, either an Apostolic Administrator will be appointed or the College of Consultors will elect a Diocesan Administrator to lead the diocese until a new bishop is named. The amount of time it will take for the diocese to be given a new bishop is not known.
Weisenburger joined the Diocese of Tucson in 2017, taking over for Bishop Emeritus Gerald Kicanas. Weisenburger previously 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 and was Bishop of Salina, Kansas from 2012-2017.
He serves the USCCB on the Committee for Migration as well as the Subcommittee on the Catholic Communication Campaign. Bishop Weisenburger has joined the USCCB in calling for the humane treatment of migrants at the border.
Weisenburger has visited Catholic parishes and schools in Yuma and La Paz counties and was last here this past Dec. 5 when he celebrated a Mass for farmworkers in San Luis.
In a released statement Tucson Diocese officials said "The priests, deacons, religious women and men of the Diocese of Tucson as well as the Pastoral Center staff and all the lay faithful of the diocese enthusiastically congratulate Archbishop-elect Weisenburger on his appointment by Pope Francis. Archbishop-elect Weisenburger will be greatly missed as he has served our diocese generously and with the care of a good shepherd since his arrival in 2017. His prayerful leadership over these past seven years has benefitted our Catholic community in many ways. He will be remembered for his zeal for vocations, for deepening the faith of the young and his concern for our struggling parishes."
A farewell Mass in Tucson will be celebrated at St. Augustine Cathedral on March 2 at 2 p.m.
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