DETROIT — Scripture reminds us in Hebrews 13:8 that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.”
While the Lord is the constant source of the Church’s hope, joy and salvation, the Church herself is always in renewal, ever guided by the promptings of the Holy Spirit as new popes, bishops and pastoral initiatives carry the Gospel into a new generation.
Perhaps more so than any year in recent memory, 2025 was a year of transition, hope and renewal. The Jubilee Year of Hope brought plenty of change, especially in the Archdiocese of Detroit.
In February, the Archdiocese of Detroit received word that Pope Francis had named Archbishop Edward J. Weisenburger — the former bishop of Tucson, Arizona — as Detroit’s new shepherd, succeeding Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron, who had led the local Church since 2009. Just two months later, Archbishop Weisenburger led the archdiocese in mourning the passing of the pope who had appointed him, and welcoming his successor — and the first American pope — Pope Leo XIV.
The local Church also began a new restructuring initiative, announced a historic partnership to care for its founding basilica, and welcomed 977 people into full communion with the Church. It also said goodbye to a longtime auxiliary bishop, Bishop Arturo Cepeda, who was appointed to a new assignment in San Antonio.
The year also saw a renewed focus on the Church’s social teaching, especially related to the crisis facing immigrants in the United States and around the world, as well as pastoral and humanitarian responses to wars, food shortages and violence affecting the most vulnerable both overseas and in our own communities.
As the Archdiocese of Detroit looks forward in hope, the Holy Spirit remains at work renewing the Church. Here are Detroit Catholic’s top 10 stories of 2025:
10. A jubilee pilgrimage of hope: Exploring Metro Detroit’s holiest sites
On Dec. 24, 2024, Pope Francis opened the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, ushering in the Jubilee Year of Hope and inviting Catholics around the world to partake in the extraordinary graces offered by God. Ordinarily celebrated every 25 years, jubilees are special opportunities to experience God’s mercy, especially through the sacrament of confession and the offering of indulgences, often through the experience of a pilgrimage.
While not every Catholic could travel to Rome during the jubilee year, local Catholics were invited to experience the holy year’s graces by visiting one of 12 Detroit-area pilgrimage sites — each with its own unique character, charism and faith-filled history. During each month of 2025, Detroit Catholic profiled these holy sites, from historic basilicas to peaceful cemeteries, offering an invitation to go deeper in prayer, trusting in God’s abundant mercy.
9. The canonization of St. Carlo Acutis and St. Pier Giorgio Frassati
Few recent canonizations have captured the Church’s imagination quite like the joint canonization of St. Carlo Acutis and St. Pier Giorgio Frassati, whom Pope Leo XIV proclaimed as saints on Sept. 7. The two young Italians — both laymen with ordinary hobbies and a passion for evangelization — serve as icons to a new generation of young Catholics and examples of what it means to follow Christ in the modern world.
The canonizations — announced by Pope Francis before his death and carried forward by Pope Leo — inspired Detroit-area young people, whose creativity found expression in art, iconography and technology celebrating the new young saints. One Detroit-area youngster, 8-year-old Isaac Roznowski, even received a call from St. Carlo’s mother encouraging him in his battle with leukemia — an unexpected and welcome source of hope — and others traveled to Rome to celebrate the new saints.
8. Ste. Anne, The Catholic Initiative finalize historic partnership to preserve basilica
In March, the Basilica of Ste. Anne — the oldest parish in the Archdiocese of Detroit and the second-oldest continually operating parish in the United States — announced a historic initiative that will see Detroit’s founding church and campus preserved “for generations to come,” thanks to an innovative partnership with The Catholic Initiative, a nonprofit created by the Pulte Family Charitable Foundation.
Under the unique partnership — approved by the Vatican as the first of its kind in the United States — The Catholic Initiative assumed ownership and will embark upon a multi-year, $30 million complete rehabilitation of the 139-year-old basilica and campus, as well as create a $20 million endowment to provide for future operating expenses for Detroit’s founding parish, ensuring its stable presence as a beacon of faith, hope and charity in the city in perpetuity.
7. Parish pantries face higher costs amidst cuts in federal subsidies to food banks
Amidst federal funding cutbacks and budget battles, food aid to support low-income families took a significant hit in 2025, resulting in higher costs for food banks, fewer local subsidies, and even a temporary shutoff of SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits during the federal government’s lengthy shutdown in the fall.
At a time when inflation at the grocery store is already squeezing American families, U.S. bishops and Catholic leaders spoke out, calling on federal leaders to restore benefits for the most vulnerable and mobilizing organizations such as Catholic Charities and parish-based food pantries through emergency food drives and expanded support, showing the Church’s constant care for those most in need.
6. 977 candidates, catechumens enter the Church at Easter; most since 2017
At this year’s Easter Vigil, the Archdiocese of Detroit saw the largest class of new Catholics in almost a decade, welcoming 977 candidates and catechumens into full communion with the Church. After years of declines, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, the mini-boom was welcome news, representing a gradual return to pre-pandemic numbers as more people discover — or rediscover — the Catholic faith.
And the trend isn’t unique to Detroit. While the number of new U.S. converts remains low by historical standards — and is still dwarfed by the number of people leaving the faith — researchers have noted a modest increase across the country that’s being primarily driven by young people searching for greater meaning and purpose in life.
5. Archdiocese of Detroit announces two-year restructuring to involve every parish
As the Church moves forward in hope, the Archdiocese of Detroit announced in 2025 a two-year restructuring effort that will address challenges related to decades of declining sacramental participation, priestly ordinations and general population shifts that have left Detroit’s Church and resources stretched. Once home to 1.5 million Catholics, today, the Archdiocese of Detroit has roughly 900,000, with fewer than half attending Mass regularly.
Archbishop Edward J. Weisenburger announced in November the goals of the two-year process of restructuring, which aims to create “vibrant parishes, flourishing priests, and a mission-ready church” in the Archdiocese of Detroit for the 21st century. The process, which will involve every church, parish and community, seeks input from all Catholics in southeast Michigan, who will be invited to participate in the process through listening sessions in the spring of 2026.
4. In powerful statement, U.S. bishops reject ‘indiscriminate mass deportation’ of immigrants
In response to the rapidly intensifying federal deportation campaign, bishops across the country — including in Michigan — acted swiftly, pastorally and with a unified voice to defend the rights and dignity of migrants, especially those forced to flee violence and oppression. In an extraordinary statement Nov. 12, the U.S. bishops called for an end to “indiscriminate mass deportation,” expressing grave concerns about the “vilification of immigrants,” abuses in immigration enforcement, poor conditions in detention centers, a lack of access to pastoral care and legal aid, and a “climate of fear and anxiety” caused by the separation of families.
In Michigan, bishops and Catholic groups supported immigrant communities through pastoral initiatives, Masses, letters and programs advocating for the just and humane treatment of migrants, including student-led mission trips and conferences focused on education and rooted in Catholic social teaching. In July, local clergy and supporters even led a prayerful procession to the Detroit-based offices of the Immigrant and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency to advocate for fair and just policies and practices.
3. Cardinal Pizzaballa thanks Detroit faithful for ‘spiritual closeness’ to the Holy Land
The two-year war in Gaza and ensuing humanitarian crisis captured headlines across the globe in 2025, as the horror of starving children, suffering families and cities reduced to rubble gave witness to the catastrophe unfolding in the Holy Land. Christians and other innocent victims of war, violence and hunger cried out to the international community, and the U.S. Church responded in 2025.
Perhaps no diocese responded more strongly than the Archdiocese of Detroit, which raised more than $500,000 in humanitarian relief during a special collection in August, and another $615,000 in December during a rare pastoral visit from Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. The patriarch’s visit and witness, at the invitation of Archbishop Weisenburger, allowed Catholics in the Detroit area — home to one of the largest Middle Eastern immigrant communities in the U.S. — to stand in unity and prayerful solidarity with their suffering brothers and sisters living in the birthplace of the Christian faith.
2. World mourns Pope Francis, welcomes Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope
The death of Pope Francis on Easter Monday prompted an outpouring of love and prayers around the world as Catholics mourned the late Holy Father, whose example of compassion and mercy drew countless souls to Christ. Known for his warm smile, pastoral wisdom and gracious humility, Pope Francis threw open the Church’s doors to the most marginalized, inviting all to experience God’s mercy and repeating often than “the Church is for everyone.”
If the election of the world’s first Latin American pope in 2013 was a surprise, that his successor — Pope Leo XIV — would be an American from Chicago was an even greater shock. Shortly after Pope Leo’s election on May 8, Detroit-area Catholics were stunned to learn the new pope had attended high school in western Michigan, and was even ordained a deacon in the Archdiocese of Detroit. Although he spent his episcopacy in Peru, Pope Leo’s American roots have already shown to be a blessing for the Church, which has found already in its new shepherd a kind heart, a compassionate listener and a voice of peace and reconciliation in a conflict-weary world.
1. Archbishop Weisenburger installed as Detroit’s new shepherd, succeeding Archbishop Vigneron
For the local Church, no story was bigger in 2025 than the appointment and installation of Detroit’s new chief shepherd, Archbishop Edward J. Weisenburger, who arrived in the Motor City from the Diocese of Tucson, Arizona, in March. In a moment filled with history and symbolism, Archbishop Weisenburger received his crosier from retiring Archbishop-emeritus Allen H. Vigneron, a son of the Archdiocese of Detroit who had led the local Church since 2009.
In his first homily, Archbishop Weisenburger reflected upon Jesus’ command to Peter to “feed my sheep,” saying he would do his best to love Jesus and the people of God he was given to serve in southeast Michigan. In his first nine months, Archbishop Weisenburger has traveled across the Archdiocese of Detroit getting to know the local Church, greeting the faithful, visiting parishes and schools, and meeting with clergy, seminarians, students, religious and lay leaders. As he leads the Archdiocese of Detroit into 2026 and beyond, Archbishop Weisenburger has said he’s guided by the example of St. John the Baptist, from whom the words of his episcopal motto are borrowed: “Ecce Agnus Dei,” or “Behold the Lamb of God.”
We hope you’ve enjoyed Detroit Catholic’s coverage in 2025. We look forward to serving you next year and in the years to come.
