Detroit -- For Archbishop Allen Vigneron, becoming archbishop of Detroit means a return to the diocese where he grew up and where his parents still live, and where he had most of his formation as a priest and later a bishop.

Archbishop Allen Vigneron's announcement of his appointment as teh new archbishop came Jan. 5, the day before the feast of the Epiphany, shown in the painting behind him. The new coat of arms incorporates the seal of the archdiocese and the archbishop's coat of arms.

And just as he says his pre-ordination theological studies in Rome and work for the Vatican Secretariat of State gave him an appreciation for the wider Church in the world, so too has his six years’ experience as bishop of the Diocese of Oakland, Calif., helped prepare him to lead the Archdiocese of Detroit.

Archbishop Vigneron, 60, spoke about his past and present, and his future plans in a telephone interview from his Oakland office just a week-and-a-half before his Jan. 28 installation as the fifth archbishop of Detroit and 10th ordinary since Detroit was erected as a diocese in 1833.

He recalled being first attracted to the priesthood at an early age, perhaps 7 or 8. “At the time, the main catalyst was the principal at Immaculate Conception School (in the Fair Haven area of Ira Township), St. Jane Frances, a Sister of St. Joseph from Nazareth, near Kalamazoo.

“She was the one who was in charge of the altar servers, and she never was simply content to instruct us in what we ought to do, but she always encouraged us in our love and reverence for the Eucharist. I think that, at the beginning, she had the principal impact on my own attraction to the priesthood,” Archbishop Vigneron said.

And he said his pastor at Immaculate Conception Parish, Anchorville (just a block from the school, but situated in a different unincorporated village of Ira Township), Fr. Harry Paul, “was always a great example.”

The young Allen Vigneron decided he wanted to attend Sacred Heart Seminary’s high school, where he said “the person who was most influential in my life was Fr. Tom Kerwin, who was the spiritual director at that time.”

He went on to attend the seminary college, where he said the priests who had the greatest impact on him were Msgr. William Scherzer and Fr. Edward Farrell. The late Fr. Farrell was also an author of books on spirituality that attracted a widespread readership.

It was around 1967, at about the age of 20 --when many seminary classmates were dropping out – that Archbishop Vigneron has said he finally made up his mind that he was definitely going to become a priest.

“I think, as a person grows, their discernment and insight grow, too,” he said.

After graduating from Sacred Heart Seminary, he was sent to Rome to study theology at the Jesuit-run Pontifical Gregorian University and to work at the Vatican Secretariat of State.

Besides the exposure it gave him to the wider Church, Archbishop Vigneron has spoken of hew he felt it to be “a privilege to provide my services for the ministry of the Holy Father” through his work for the Holy See.

Archbishop Vigneron said his family was supportive of his priestly vocation, “but in a very discreet way.”

“They always made it very clear to me that they would support me in whatever I wanted to do with my life. They made it a point to never put pressure on me,” he said.

To illustrate his point, he told how, a few weeks before his 1975 ordination, “ I happened to be in my parents’ bedroom, and I accidentally knocked my mother’s prayer book off her dresser. I picked it up, and it opened up pretty easily to a place where the pages were dirty with handprints, and that was where there was a prayer for a son to become a priest. That was the most tangible indication I had of their support before I became a priest.”

After ordination he served three years as an associate pastor at Our Lady Queen of Peace in Harper Woods. Although most of his priestly ministry would be spent in academic positions – as a professor and later rector of Sacred Heart Major Seminary – he says his early service as an associate pastor provided invaluable pastoral experience.

“It was a wonderful experience – celebrating Mass, hearing confessions, visiting the school and making sick calls,” he recalled.

Having three generations of priests living in the rectory was also an enriching experience, he said, pointing out the pastor, Fr. Dan Complo, had been a priest for 20 years, and the other associate, Fr. John Wittstock, had been a priest for 40 years.

And it was an experience that still informs his ministry.

“I believe the first years of priesthood are very important for practical experience in the role of parish life in the life of the Church. And in a leadership position as a bishop, it helps me understand that everything I do should, in some way, help parishes be more vibrant, more alive,” Archbishop Vigneron said.

His experience as seminary professor and rector gave him insights and experience regarding the formation of new priests, and he said his work as an auxiliary bishop was “a little like serving an internship under a diocesan bishop -- watching Cardinal Maida and working with him” – to prepare him for shepherding his own diocese.

Asked what he considers to be the highlights of his six years as bishop of Oakland, and how that experience might relate to his new Detroit position, Archbishop Vigneron replied, “I think one highlight would be my own growth in being able to minister to people of different ethnic groups. After I arrived in Oakland, I began studying Spanish, and I’ve become much more comfortable in that ministry.”

He said that would be a pastoral skill he’d be bringing back from Oakland to Detroit.

“Also, I had to take the leadership in this diocese’ response to the sexual abuse crisis, and I think I learned some skills in reconciliation,” he continued.

The archbishop pointed to the building of the new cathedral in Oakland as another important event of his ministry there.

“I don’t intend to apply anything I learned from that in building a new cathedral in Detroit, but I think that experience will help me when it comes to bringing people together to cooperate on a large project,” he said.

Besides returning home and being close to his elderly parents, Archbishop Vigneron said he would especially enjoy being able to spend some time at two of his favorite spots in the archdiocese – Harsen’s Island and the boardwalk along the St. Clair River in St. Clair.

“I’m from Anchor Bay and Fair Haven, and find being on the island a great getaway. We never had a cottage there, but there was a park there where we used to go when I was young,” he said.

For leisure-time activities, Archbishop Vigneron said he enjoys walking for exercise and reading. He called reading “a particular pleasure for me,” and said he enjoys reading literature, philosophy, history and theology.

His reading of history includes “Medieval and ancient, in particular, and also the history and analysis of political movements.”

As to what he hopes to achieve as archbishop, or how soon he hopes to achieve it, Detroit’s new archbishop said it was too soon to say.

“I don’t really have a set of policy priorities; therefore, I don’t have a timetable to give. I can say that I will have, in the back of my mind, that everything we try to do, every program we put into place, should be able to be measured by to what degree it revitalizes people coming to Sunday Mass and going to confession,” he said.

And Archbishop Vigneron concluded with a request to “tell everyone how blessed I count myself to be called to be the archbishop of Detroit, how I wish everyone to be praying for me.”