Archbishop Weisenburger joins faith and academic leaders at University of Detroit Mercy for conversation on critical issues
DETROIT — Faith and academic leaders gathered April 25 for a conversation on the critical issues facing the world today, with a particular focus on the Church’s prophetic role in guiding and shaping the values that impact the culture.
The panel discussion, “Synodality Encounters: A Conversation on the Prophetic Role of the Church in This Time and Place,” took place in the ballroom of the University of Detroit Mercy’s Student Union and is one of several events marking the university’s 150th anniversary.
Co-sponsored by the university along with the Sisters of Mercy, the Midwest Jesuits and the Archdiocese of Detroit, the event drew more than 200 people and was inspired by the University of Detroit Mercy’s core values, which include a focus on education, diversity, mercy and compassion, faith and justice, and a commitment to service and leadership in the city of Detroit, said Fr. Charles Oduke, SJ, vice president for mission integration at Detroit Mercy.
“Our religious founders, through their various ministries here in Detroit, made a decision and a commitment to witness to the hope of the resurrection in this city,” Fr. Oduke said. “Here, we are collectively continuing to be part of that, witnessing the rebirth and renaissance of Detroit.”
The afternoon’s panel was moderated by author and leadership consultant Bridget Deegan-Krause, M.Div., BCC, and included Detroit Archbishop Edward J. Weisenburger; Bishop John E. Stowe of Lexington, Kentucky; Sr. Helen Marie Burns, RSM, a university board member and former president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious; and Matt Mio, Ph.D., chairman and longtime professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Detroit Mercy.
Deegan-Krause, an author and ministry consultant with more than 30 years of ministry in Catholic health care and higher education, explained that the panel’s focus on synodality and discernment meant “deepening our thinking” about the role of the Church in modern times.
In addition to the panel discussions, the event also included synodal-style table reflection, discussion and sharing.
“What does a prophetic Church look like, sound like, act like?” Deegan-Krause asked. “In the spirit of synodality, we are also going to be seeking the wisdom of the Holy Spirit that will emerge in our circles here today.”
The first of the panelists to speak, Sr. Burns emphasized that, like the prophets of old, the Church’s witness in the world today is found in “announcing God’s vision” as well as “denouncing all that would impede that vision.”
While all members of the Church shares in this prophetic responsibility, Sr. Burns acknowledged the special role played by those in Church leadership, religious life and education in promoting God’s vision for the world, particularly in addressing the systemic injustices that afflict those on the margins of society.
Sr. Burns pointed to the corporal and spiritual works of mercy done during the 20th and 21st centuries by members of U.S. religious communities, particularly in education, health care, ministries to the poor, and in various social justice causes.
While these ministries played an indispensable role in alleviating suffering, they alone aren't enough, she said.
“Addressing the needs and concerns of individuals is important, but it’s not sufficient,” Sr. Burns said. “We begin to understand that the works of mercy necessitate also the works of justice. We need to address the systemic needs and concerns of a vulnerable reality. Systems imprison. Systems create hunger, homelessness and nakedness. We also become more aware of the vulnerabilities of the earth itself, because God’s vision for creation is the flourishing of all life.”
Bishop Stowe, a member of the Conventual Franciscans as well as bishop of Lexington, Kentucky, also commended religious communities’ witness in addressing systemic injustices, and added that the witness of recent popes has greatly contributed to an awareness of the needs of the most vulnerable.
Bishop Stowe highlighted Pope Leo XIV’s recent visit to Africa, where he denounced the exploitation of peoples and natural resources, shining a light on conflicts and injustices that are often hidden from the public eye.
“While a great part of our national press was much more interested in creating or enhancing the feud between the president and the pope, we should have paid a lot more attention to what Pope Leo was actually saying about what happens in Africa and how overlooked some of the conflicts there have been for so long,” Bishop Stowe said.
The pope’s consistent calls for peace in a world beset by conflict are a beacon of hope, Bishop Stowe added, building on the legacy of his predecessor, Pope Francis, “whose anniversary of passing we observed this past week,” he said.
Bishop Stowe noted that Pope Francis’ final message as he lay in his hospital bed on Easter Sunday 2025 was an “impassioned plea for peace” amidst the myriad wars and conflicts in the world.
“That was consistent with his whole life,” Bishop Stowe recalled. “He famously invited warlords from the ongoing war in Sudan to come to the Vatican and make a retreat together, where he got down on his hands and knees and kissed the feet of the warlords, begging them to stop wasting their people’s resources in elements of war.”
Pope Francis’ visits to the Holy Land, Congo and other regions beset by war — even while he himself was confined to a wheelchair — gave a powerful prophetic witness to the need for a true, lasting peace, Bishop Stowe added.
Pope Francis’ penchant for breaking protocol — washing the feet of women, Muslims and inmates, or visiting the Russian embassy to plead for peace after the invasion of Ukraine — was always done with an eye toward those who were suffering, Bishop Stowe said.
“He introduced the word ‘peripheries’ into most of our vocabulary, that we might be attentive to where Christ is going to be found: on the margins and on the edges,” he said.
Bishop Stowe encouraged Church leaders to pay greater attention — as Pope Francis did — to often-overlooked voices, including Latinos, African-Americans and women, who bring great gifts to the Church despite having often felt unwelcomed.
“If we really want to capture and learn from those voices on the peripheries, we have to listen,” Bishop Stowe said. “And that’s what this exercise is all about, and why it’s good to be here talking about synodality, which has a long way to go to take root in our country.”
Mio, a longtime faculty member at the University of Detroit Mercy who specializes in chemistry and biochemistry, spoke of Pope Francis’ landmark 2015 encyclical, Laudato Si’, as a watershed moment for environmental justice.
A longtime devoted Catholic with a love for Ignatian spirituality, Mio said faith and science are never mutually exclusive, as Laudato Si’ so beautifully explored.
“As an organic chemist and a scientist, I always have my eye on my faith and my environmental concerns,” Mio said. “When I teach, I tell my students that faith and science are both in pursuit of the truth: one through nature, the other through super-nature. No bio student finishes their eight months of organic chemistry without understanding that science can never be value-neutral.”
Pope Francis’ encyclical called the world to listen more intently to the “cry of the earth” and the impact of environmental injustice upon the poor, and outlined several important steps in the pursuit of ecological development and sustainable lifestyles, Mio said.
“He critiques consumerism and irresponsible development, laments environmental degradation and global warming, calls all people to swift and unified global action, and specifically points out the inheritors of our inaction, the poor and marginalized,” Mio said.
Echoing previous popes, Pope Francis pointed out that purchases always have a moral dimension, not just an economic one, Mio added, calling the world out of indifference to address systems that oppress the poor.
Mio encouraged attendees to become familiar with Laudato Si’, which he said speaks to a world in need.
The final speaker, Archbishop Weisenburger, quipped that the three preceding speakers “said everything of importance,” but added that the role of prophecy itself — especially in the modern world — requires both speaking and listening.
While the world presents many reasons for the prophet to become frustrated and angry, Archbishop Weisenburger cautioned Catholics to avoid rage and anger, which can cause the prophet to “get between the people and the message, as opposed to facilitating it.”
The archbishop reflected upon the example of modern prophets such as St. Teresa of Calcutta, whose message was taken seriously by the world’s leaders precisely because of her peaceful witness.
During Mother Teresa’s famous speech to the National Prayer Breakfast in 1994, addressing 1,000 of the United States’ most powerful people, she spoke powerfully about respect for life, especially against the poverty of abortion, the archbishop recalled.
Unlike many who had addressed similar topics with less success, Archbishop Weisenburger noted that Mother Teresa’s speech carried weight far beyond her diminutive stature.
“Because of her credibility, and because she was a witness — not just somebody in a rage — instead of politely dismissing her, shaking her hand and moving on, she received a standing ovation that went on for a long time,” Archbishop Weisenburger said. “Even if they didn’t like her message, they heard it.”
As both Pope Leo and Pope Francis showed — albeit in different styles — prophecy is not just about speaking the truth, but about being "people of truth," Archbishop Weisenburger said.
“It’s not just about prophecy in the world, but as it is for every human being, we recognize that element of the prophet that is in all of us because of our baptism,” he said.
After the panelists’ presentations, Deegan-Krause led those gathered in table exercises, inviting all in a spirit of synodality to reflect upon what they’d heard and offer their own witness to the group.
Many reflected what they’d learned from the panelists, raising issues such as inclusivity, awareness of the needs of young people and minorities, and the importance of hearing a diversity of perspectives on the issues of the day.
One participant, speaking for his group, thanked the panelists for raising many of the topics of the day, adding the example of others can be a powerful motivator for action.
“What prophetic opportunities are we called to engage together?” the audience member asked. “Sometimes we need a guide to be prophetic. We get a bit nervous on our own, and as much as we find our strength in our prophetic heroes, we need collective action.”
