12 priests in the Archdiocese of Detroit granted senior status this year, and a grateful Church thanks God for their lives
DETROIT — In the ordination rite, a man is ordained a priest "now and forever, in the order of Melchizedek."
So, strictly speaking, a priest is always a priest. "Retirement" is a loose term.
But upon reaching age 75, or in some circumstances even earlier, it’s customary for diocesan priests to be given senior status, in which they are relieved of the administrative burdens of leading a parish, working in a diocesan office, or serving in a full-time ministry.
For priests entering a new era in their ministry, it's a time of transition and reflection — one less focused on day-to-day administration and more focused on prayer, gratitude and discernment.
Over the past year, 12 priests across the Archdiocese of Detroit were granted senior status: Msgr. Ronald Browne, Fr. Kenneth Chase, Fr. Paul Chateau, Fr. Ronald DeHondt, Fr. John Esper, Fr. William Herman, Msgr. Timothy Hogan, Fr. Terrence Kerner, Fr. John Ortman, Fr. Kevin Thomas, Fr. Ronald Victor, and the late Fr. Nicholas Zukowski, who died in March.
For many of this year's class of senior priests, this new chapter began July 1, when a majority of clergy assignment changes take place in the Archdiocese of Detroit.
“There have been so many blessings in my priesthood, it’s hard to single out any one of them, but just being with the people during important moments in their lives,” said Fr. DeHondt, 80, who retired July 1 after serving for 23 years at St. Margaret of Scotland Parish in St. Clair Shores.
Fr. DeHondt — one of several new senior priests who spoke with Detroit Catholic — was ordained to the priesthood on Nov. 3, 1973, after studying at Sacred Heart Seminary and St. Paul’s Seminary.
After serving as an associate pastor at St. Mary of Redford Parish in Detroit, St. Lawrence Parish in Utica, and Our Lady of Loretto Parish in Redford, Fr. DeHondt became a pastor for the first time at St. Gregory the Great Parish in Detroit in 1981, and in 1998, the pastorate of the Church of the Madonna in Detroit was entrusted to him.
Following an associate pastor assignment at St. Mary of Redford Parish in Detroit (1973-79), a temporary administrator at St. Michael Parish in Monroe in 1979, associate pastor assignments at St. Lawrence Parish in Utica (1979-80) and Our Lady of Loretto Parish in Redford (1980-81), Fr. DeHoundt served as pastor at St. Gregory the Great Parish in Detroit in 1981, and in 1998, the pastorate of Church of the Madonna in Detroit was entrusted to him.
In 2003, Fr. DeHondt became pastor of St. Margaret of Scotland Parish in St. Clair Shores, where he served for 23 years.
“Celebrating the Sunday Eucharist, special events like funerals, baptisms, weddings, visits to the sick — they’ve all been important in my priesthood and have brought me closer to God and to the people I have served,” said Fr. DeHondt, who also briefly served as administrator of St. Michael Parish in Monroe in 1979.
It was the simple things, Fr. DeHondt said, like celebrating Mass with the parish, studying the weekly Scriptures, and special moments of grace, that revealed God's love for His people.
“I had an experience during a Knights of Columbus exemplification, where I had traveled up to the event with a couple of people, and I was in the concelebrating position,” Fr. DeHondt explained. “I was looking for the Knights in the congregation, but I couldn’t see them. And I said to them afterward, ‘I didn’t see you in the gathering at the church,’ and they said, ‘We were there, just behind some people.’ And I thought, that’s how it is sometimes with God. God is present in our life, but we don’t always see Him.”
While priests, like bishops, offer to retire at the age of 75, many, like Fr. DeHondt, serve in full-time ministry longer than that — sometimes out of a continued desire to keep going, and other times because of pastoral necessity. In the Archdiocese of Detroit, like many dioceses around the country, nearly half of priests are 60 or older.
For Fr. Chateau, who retired July 1 at the age of 86, it was the community at Our Mother of Perpetual Help in Oak Park — a community he's served for half a century — that's kept him active.
“I came to appreciate the value and happiness of being part of a proud community,” Fr. Chateau said. “I’ve grown immensely because of some genuine happy connectiveness with our parish community.”
In 1972, Fr. Chateau became co-pastor of Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Oak Park, becoming its sole pastor in 1979. In 2012, he added the pastorate of St. James Parish in Ferndale and served as pastor of both parishes until their merger into Our Mother of Perpetual Help Parish in 2014, where he served for the next 12 years.
“I've served for 54 years in the Oak Park area. This has become part of my family,” Fr. Chateau said. “I am so happy and proud to be part of their lives and for them to be part of my life. It’s been a blessing, a joy, and I’ll be part of this community and family as long as I live.”
Fr. Paul Chateau studied at Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit and St. John’s Provincial Seminary in Plymouth Township before being ordained a priest on June 4, 1966. He served as associate pastor (1966-70) and later co-pastor (1970-71) of St. Martin de Porres Parish in Warren, administrator of St. Joseph Parish in Monroe (1971-72), and administrator of St. James Parish in Ferndale (1979).
Fr. Chateau plans to stay around the Oak Park area, where he has a house and still plans to be a fixture in the community.
“Like anybody, you go through the ups and downs, but you learn the blessing of being part of a praying community,” Fr. Chateau said. “I look forward to continuing to be part of this praying community. It’s my life and joy.”
While some, like Fr. Chateau, spent most of their priesthood in a small corner of the Archdiocese of Detroit, Msgr. Timothy Hogan's vocation sent him halfway around the world.
After being ordained for the Archdiocese of Detroit on Dec. 11, 1982, Msgr. Hogan served as associate pastor of the National Shrine of the Little Flower in Royal Oak (1982-83), Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish in Plymouth (1983-88), and Sacred Heart Parish in Dearborn (1988-89), before being named pastor of St. Christopher Parish in Detroit in 1989.
Two years later, he was released to the United States Navy, where he served as a hospital corpsman during the Vietnam War, but returned to the service as a military chaplain, ministering in Iraq during the Gulf War. He was later deployed to Afghanistan and spent two tours in Iraq with the United States Marine Corps, retiring from active duty in 2007.
“Having served in parish life within the Archdiocese of Detroit and also 20 of my 30 years as a priest in the Navy, I have been blessed to encounter many people around the world and see the grace and mercy of God and serve them where they were in their faith, but also watch them grow,” said Msgr. Hogan, who attended Allentown College of St. Francis de Sales in Pennsylvania and St. John’s Provincial Seminary in Plymouth Township.
In 2007, Msgr. Hogan returned to the Archdiocese of Detroit to serve as pastor of Holy Family Parish in Novi, and later served as director of the archdiocese's Department of Clergy and Consecrated Life while ministering on weekends at St. Andrew Parish in Rochester, St. James Parish in Ferndale, and St. Regis Parish in Bloomfield Hills.
In 2017, he became pastor of St. Fabian Parish in Farmington Hills, where he served until his retirement July 1.
Forever a Navy man, Msgr. Hogan said he is looking forward to spending more days on the water — his family has a home on Drummond Island — preferably with a breviary in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other.
“I’m looking forward to days in my boat and being on the water,” Msgr. Hogan said. “I also have many friends around the country from my time in the Navy and would like to reconnect with them.”
Msgr. Hogan said he'd like to continue to assist with Masses on the weekends as he can, adding God has shared many lessons over the years.
“I’ve learned not to take myself too seriously and rely more on the grace of the Holy Spirit,” Msgr. Hogan said. “God’s people want to encounter Christ even when they don’t know it. The Lord used me in many ways to reveal His presence to others in very difficult times and in joyful times. I learned that in order to care for souls entrusted to me in times of peace and war, in all the joys and troubles of life, I need to keep my prayer life strong and consistent.”
Like Msgr. Hogan, Msgr. Ronald Browne can also reflect upon a unique priesthood — one spent serving the Church both behind the scenes and in public-facing ministries.
A canon lawyer, Msgr. Browne has spent two-thirds of his ministry serving in diocesan, tribunal, and canonical capacities, called to use his talents to bolster the Church.
While not the "typical" parish priesthood, Msgr. Browne says he's enjoyed the life God has given him, which has included the flexibility to go where he's called and to serve however he's able.
“I don't have to worry about the administration of an office in the diocese or a parish," Msgr. Browne said. "I can go and celebrate the sacraments, be with the people and be really, really a priest serving the people, but I don't have to worry about all the administration.”
Ordained on June 29, 1991, Msgr. Browne served in parish assignments at Our Lady Star of the Sea in Grosse Pointe Woods (1991-92) and the National Shrine of the Little Flower in Royal Oak (1992-95).
Because of his abilities as a canonist, Cardinal Adam J. Maida asked Msgr. Browne to serve as judicial vicar for the Archdiocese of Detroit in 1999, serving in the Metropolitan Tribunal, the body that assists the archbishop in overseeing and processing canon law inquiries, especially related to requests for marriage nullity.
Msgr. Browne later served as pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows Parish in Farmington (2002-04) and St. Gerald Parish in Farmington (2004-09), while also serving on the Priest Assignment Board and Presbyteral Council.
In 2009, then-Fr. Browne was asked to go to the Diocese of Marquette in the Upper Peninsula to serve as moderator of the curia for then-Bishop Alexander K. Sample, where he worked on the beatification cause for Bishop Frederic Baraga.
“Some very personal highlights of my priesthood are being involved in miracle investigations for Blessed Solanus Casey and Bishop Baraga,” Msgr. Browne said. “(Upon returning to Detroit), Archbishop (Allen H.) Vigneron asked me to be the episcopal delegate for the miracle investigation for Father Solanus Casey, which resulted in his beatification. That was just an unbelievable experience.”
Msgr. Browne, who was named a monsignor by Pope Benedict XVI in 2013, returned to the Archdiocese of Detroit to serve a second time as judicial vicar, and was later asked to lead preparations for the archdiocese's Synod 16 — a historic gathering that set the local Church on a path toward evangelization.
Since 2024, Msgr. Browne has served as episcopal vicar for the archdiocese's Northwest Region, while also serving at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Parish in Beverly Hills.
While Msgr. Browne admits looking forward to being able to "sleep in," he says he'll remain a resource for Archbishop Edward J. Weisenburger to help with canonical matters, and plans to stay involved in a few other ministries.
But his full-time ministry is coming to a close, and it's a time he thanks God for every day.
“My priesthood's not been the typical priesthood in the sense that 24 of my 35 years have been more in office and administration than in parish work,” Msgr. Browne said. “However, the fact of the matter is, I found that the people of God, the people in the parishes are a real treasure, and they have made my priesthood very special for me. I tell people that God has given me a life better than I deserved.”
