Second round of draft pastorate models to be released on restructuring website Oct. 19 after months of public input on initial drafts
DETROIT — In a new letter and video addressed to the faithful of the Archdiocese of Detroit, Detroit Archbishop Edward J. Weisenburger offered a progress report on the archdiocese’s two-year restructuring effort.
The archbishop’s message, played during parish Masses the weekend of Oct. 17-18, comes as the Archdiocese of Detroit prepares to release its second round of draft pastorate models in response to months of public feedback over the spring and summer.
From April to July, more than 40,000 parishioners attended 412 parish listening sessions, and 17,000 completed an online survey offering input on the first set of proposals detailing how the archdiocese might group its parishes into pastorates — a necessary response to steep declines in Mass attendance, priestly ordinations and sacramental participation in recent decades.
The public feedback was collected, read and analyzed over the past three months, and has been incorporated into a revised set of draft models, which will be made available Oct. 19 at restructuring.aod.org.
The new draft pastorate models will include two proposed models for each of the archdiocese’s 15 planning areas — refined from three or four models in the initial drafts. The new proposals will also include an explanation for the changes from the first round of models.
Some of the draft models will be entirely new, some will be revisions of the initial round of drafts, while others remain unchanged, the archbishop said.
Regardless, each proposal reflects careful and prayerful discernment undertaken with pastoral sensitivity and a sincere heart, the archbishop said in his video message, in particular when it comes to parishes where baptisms, funerals, family celebrations, and special moments have been celebrated over generations.
“Brothers and sisters, I recognize that behind every model, every recommendation, and every decision are current communities or parishes that people deeply love and call home,” Archbishop Weisenburger said. “Our parishes have rich histories, and they often feel very much like members of our own families. I honor those feelings because they reflect the love you have for your faith and for the communities that have nurtured it.”
The archbishop said he hoped the new draft pastorate models — which are still not final — reflect “an opportunity to see how your feedback is shaping the outcome.”
“I pray you will see in this next round of draft models that we truly listened, took your feedback to heart, and did our best to let it shape where we are today,” Archbishop Weisenburger said.
Like the first round of draft pastorate models, the revised proposals will include dozens of instances in which weekend Masses would no longer be celebrated in certain church buildings — a painful necessity given a critical shortage of priests and resources.
In his message to the faithful, Archbishop Weisenburger clarified what those situations would mean.
“As we move into the next stage of refining the models, we are now able to provide greater clarity,” Archbishop Weisenburger said. “In the refined models, you will continue to see some locations identified as having ‘no weekend Masses.’ For those locations, this means they would be combined with another parish, or with other parishes in the pastorate, to form a single, unified parish community.
“While not a change in the overall direction of the planning process, it is a further clarification appropriately made at this stage of our planning,” the archbishop continued. “It also aligns with much of the feedback we have heard from you as we continue working together to refine these models.”
Archdiocesan leaders have cautioned that in some cases, sites that retained weekend Masses in the first set of draft models might lose them in the second round, or vice versa, as new information and feedback was received.
However, the archbishop stressed that even in the new round, the models are not yet final.
Over the next few weeks, priests and key parish leaders will have an opportunity to review the new set of draft models and offer another round of input. Although the broader public feedback phase of the restructuring process has ended, parishioners can still provide feedback through their parish leaders.
After a new round of review by priests and key parish leaders, the proposals will then be reviewed by the Archdiocesan Restructuring Commission — a representative body of 25 clergy and laity from across the archdiocese — and other consultative groups.
A final proposal will then be presented to Archbishop Weisenburger for his own review and discernment, and the archbishop is expected to release his final decisions in April 2027.
Once final, the new pastorates would go into effect in July 2027.
Priest reassignments
In his message to the faithful, Archbishop Weisenburger also addressed a planned reassignment of the majority of the Archdiocese of Detroit’s priests, which will take place concurrently with the new pastorates beginning on July 1, 2027.
The reassignment will apply to nearly all of the archdiocese’s parish priests, with the exception of four newly ordained priests and five pastors who were assigned and moved in 2026, the archbishop said.
Priests serving in curial roles, those on the faculty of Sacred Heart Major Seminary, and some members of religious communities with longstanding relationships serving particular parishes would also not necessarily be reassigned.
While priest transfers are a normal part of Catholic parish life, the bonds priests form with their parish communities are real, and change is never easy, the archbishop said.
“I know, too, that while we have great faith in the Lord’s never-failing help, facing the reality of these priest transfers can be challenging,” the archbishop said. “Our priests forge deep bonds with those they serve, and those relationships are a treasured part of parish life.”
Archbishop Weisenburger expressed his immense gratitude to the archdiocese’s priests, who have been meeting monthly to prepare for the transitions ahead.
“I cannot overstate my gratitude for their faithful leadership. Their spirit of sacrifice, unity, and service is a powerful witness, not only to our local Church today but also to the generations of priests who will follow them,” Archbishop Weisenburger said.
While such transitions are difficult, in the context of the archdiocese’s restructuring — in which every parish, large and small, will experience change on some level — there are important reasons for a fresh start for everyone, he continued.
“This movement of priests is important and intentional. As we form new pastorates, we need to look at the needs of newly formed communities as a whole and match the gifts, experience, and abilities of our priests with the communities they will serve,” Archbishop Weisenburger said. “This gives both our priests and our parish communities an opportunity for a fresh start together, laying a foundation on which ministries and relationships from prior communities can be successfully blended into one.”
Archdiocesan Restructuring FAQs: “Why does my priest have to be reassigned even if my parish is healthy?”
Because the restructuring requires a broad-scale look at how resources are deployed across the entire Archdiocese of Detroit — including the distribution of a limited number of priests spread across a wide geographic area — all parishes will experience change, even those that might be otherwise healthy, archdiocesan leaders have said.
“This approach of a true, fresh beginning for all has proven absolutely essential in dioceses where restructuring has known great success,” Archbishop Weisenburger said. “And while it asks much of our priests, it is a sacrifice they are making as brothers of one, unified presbyterate, for you, the faithful whom they are committed to serve with great fidelity.”
In addition to a fresh start, the reassignment gives priests an opportunity to serve where they will best be able to utilize their unique charisms — whether that’s in a rural, suburban or urban parish, in a school, service ministry or other opportunities.
Unlike during a normal assignment process, each incardinated priest in the Archdiocese of Detroit will have an opportunity to meet one on one with members of the Priest Assignment Board to discuss these possibilities.
The hope, Archbishop Weisenburger said, is that once the restructuring is concluded, every parish and priest in the Archdiocese of Detroit will be in the best possible position to succeed for the good of all the faithful in southeast Michigan.
“I ask that you give them your full support as they take their leave from current assignments, and as these new pastorates are formed in July 2027, I likewise ask that you welcome new priests to your new communities with full and loving support,” the archbishop said.
Looking ahead
As the restructuring enters a new stage, Archbishop Weisenburger encouraged the faithful of the Archdiocese of Detroit to continue to lift one another up in prayer, confident in the Holy Spirit’s guidance.
“For more than 300 years, Catholics in Detroit have responded to the needs of their time with faith, courage, and trust in God. Through every season, generation after generation has found new ways to live the Gospel, worship together, serve others, and pass on the faith,” he said. “We are part of that same story today.”
The Church in southeast Michigan isn’t just a collection of parishes and individual communities, but one body of Christ, united in prayer, sacrament and service for the common good and for the salvation of all, he said.
“This moment in time gives us an opportunity to ask not simply how we preserve what has been, but how we best prepare the Church of the Detroit Archdiocese for what God is calling us to become,” Archbishop Weisenburger said. “Our hope is to build on the faith, sacrifice, and generosity of those who came before us so that generations still to come will encounter vibrant Catholic communities where they can know Christ, grow as disciples, and experience the life of the Church.”
Especially amidst uncertainty, Christ is always the solution, he said.
“We may not see every detail of the path ahead, but we know the One who leads us,” he said. “So let us move forward with faith and confidence in Christ, trusting in the Holy Spirit who has guided the Church of this archdiocese for more than three centuries.”
Round 2 Draft Pastorate Models
The second round of draft pastorate models in the Archdiocese of Detroit's restructuring process, refined in response to feedback from members of the lay faithful and wider Catholic community in southeast Michigan, will be released Monday, Oct. 19, at restructuring.aod.org, along with a list of frequently asked questions.
