Archbishop Allen Vigneron returns to Detroit as the archdiocese's fifth archbishop.

Joy was the overwhelming feeling at the seminary when word spread on the first day of winter term classes: Bishop Allen Vigneron of Oakland would be returning to Detroit to lead the archdiocese with the retirement of Cardinal Adam Maida.

Seminarians, staff and faculty, and many other well-wishers crowded the Cardinal Mooney parlor that morning, January 5, for the 10 AM news conference to greet the Archbishop. Although Cardinal Maida submitted his resignation to Pope John Paul II in 2005, the Holy Father had asked the cardinal to continue on in his office. Pope Benedict XVI finally accepted the resignation, which led to the naming of Archbishop Vigneron as the cardinal's successor.

Archbishop Vigneron was installed formally as the head of the 1.4 million-member Detroit archdiocese, and its tenth bishop and fifth archbishop, at a ceremony at Blessed Sacrament Cathedral on January 28.

Archbishop Vigneron, 60, is a native son of the Detroit area, born in Mt. Clemens and raised in Anchorville. He is a seminary alumnus, having graduated from then-Sacred Heart High School (1966) and College Seminary (1970). After theological studies in Rome, the incoming archbishop was ordained to the priesthood in 1975. Parish work and a PhD in philosophy followed, until Archbishop Vigneron became a dean at the college in 1988.

Cardinal Maida appointed him rector and president of the re-founded Sacred Heart Major Seminary in 1994 and ordained him an auxiliary bishop in 1996. Archbishop Vigneron remained at Sacred Heart until 2003, when the Holy Father named him Bishop of Oakland. He was a force behind the many innovations at the seminary during his tenure, including the establishment of the Licentiate in Sacred Theology program.

At the news conference, the incoming archbishop expressed special affection for the work of Sacred Heart when he said, "My thoughts and prayers are particularly focused on the priests, deacons and seminarians, the religious and lay faithful I will serve here. Now that I have become the spiritual father of this local Church, they are even dearer." Cardinal Maida said, "It is a great blessing to have him return back to us." The archbishop further indicated his endearment for the seminary by lunching with the seminarians and meeting with the faculty and Board of Trustees on the day after the announcement.