Metro Detroit — Cardinal Adam J. Maida, former archbishop of Detroit, remembers the late Cardinal Edmund C. Szoka living the faith “day and night.”

“He was a faithful priest, said Cardinal Maida of his predecessor, who died Aug. 20, 2014. “He was a faithful bishop. And he was a faithful cardinal… He wanted to serve the Lord and serve the Church.”

Cardinal Maida, who succeeded the late cardinal in 1990, said that Cardinal Szoka was both “feisty” and “brilliant,” as well as “a man of great inner strength and great faith, which motivated him.”

Additionally, Cardinal Maida considered Cardinal Szoka “a true friend, and one who cared, and one who was generous and thoughtful.”

He pointed out that Pope John Paul II had trusted Cardinal Szoka, and the two had had not only a good personal relationship, “but they also had a good Church relationship” as Cardinal Szoka handled Vatican financial affairs, and later served as president of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State.

Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron, who succeeded Cardinal Maida in 2009, credits Cardinal Szoka for setting an example for leading the people of the Archdiocese of Detroit.

Because of the cardinal’s firmness in handling parish consolidations, for example, ““some people might have mistaken it for being impervious to human concerns and human feelings. That certainly was not the case,” said the archbishop in an Aug. 21 news conference.

“But like any leader, like the father of a family, he made the decisions that he thought, by his best light, were for the good of us all,” said Archbishop Vigneron. “He was a priest. He cared about the things priests care about. He wanted people to get closer to Christ.”

Archbishop Vigneron said he remembers Cardinal Szoka’s strong devotion to the Blessed Mother, as well as his pride in his Polish heritage: “It clearly enriched his life over many years.”

“He was a man of his convictions, and willing to do the hard thing for the good,” said the archbishop.